Ultimate Crisis
by Dragon-Raptor
Summary: When chaos descends on a small town in South America, only those who are tough enough survive... Multiple crossover SG1, Dino Crisis, BtVS, Jurrasic Park, Indiana Jones, Tomb Raider, 007
1. Total Carnage

**DR: **Okay, this is my first true fanfic. It's going to be quite dark in places. Also, this first chapter is, chronoglically, not the first part of the story. I'll explain later...

**DISCLAIMER: **I own none of the characters in this story at all.**  
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**DR: **One last thing. For this first part, I wrote it without actuall naming any of the characters except when they spoke to each other. All will be revealed in the later chapters, so if you can't work out who everyone is, don't panic...)D

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**Ultimate Crisis**

In the early evening gloom the city lay quiet, the slab sided whitewashed buildings reflecting what little sunlight there was left. Like many towns and cities just south of the equator, the buildings were composed of local rock, cement and wood, rather than the steel and glass structures of the western world. Unlike other such cities, this one had its streets lit with simple wrought iron streetlights, part of an attempt to attract tourists.

But tourists would not come here now, not for a while.

Only a few lamps worked now. Others flicked, leaning at odd angles, others lay, dead and dark, snapped in two or completely uprooted.

The lack of light was a blessing however. It hid the worst of the carnage that filled the streets. Nearly every window was broken, the glass shattered, spread within and without. Doors hung off one hinge, or lay flat on the ground. Some of the walls had been shoved in and were riddled with cracks, as if a great mass had crashed into them. Others were gone, just a pile of rubble and a gaping hole in the buildings side to indicate that a wall had been there. A few of the smaller buildings had collapsed, spilling rubble onto the streets themselves.

Many small vehicles lined the streets. None would ever run again. Some lay on their sides, others had run into buildings, and each other. Nearly all had damage that could not have occurred during the crashes. Metalwork was torn, ripped away, as if a giant can opener had gone over them. Some were crushed almost flat; others were almost bent in two from a sideways shunt.

And here and there, slumped in corners and open doorways, or splayed across the road, were the bodies of people. All were torn, slashed, as if great animals had mauled them, and in some cases, fed on them. Great puddles and splashes of a dark liquid were scattered around. There was almost no movement anywhere.

The silence was not complete however. A low wind whistled though the wrecks, and moaned as it ran though doorways and gapping holes. Rags of tarpaulin hanging from the remains of market stalls rustled, and here and there a door slowly creaked on its hinges or slammed against doorways. And off in the distance, the faint sound of a raging fire could be heard, the roaring and crackling of the flames merged into one from the distance. Apart from that the city seemed dead.

Almost. In one area, there were signs of life. A sound, the grumble of an engine, on its last legs, labouring, each second seeming like it was about to die.

Slowly, on one of the main streets, a weak shaft of light could be seen emerging from a side street. The sound came from that street as well. Slowly the source emerged, it's nose poking out tentatively, almost hesitantly, as if afraid to disturb the grisly scene. Then it pushed forward, revealing the full form. It was a minibus, one of thousands made and sold around the world. But this one was a sorry excuse for one of it's kind. The right front wing was crumpled, smashed into the engine bay, a thin stream of steam emerging from the wrecked radiator. The headlight there was completely gone, leaving only the left light to show the way. Dents ran along the side, as did scars in the metal, great long slices cut into it, like paper sliced with a knife, in groups of three. Nearly all the side windows were gone, leaving shards of broken, jagged glass in the rims. The windscreen was still there, but cracks radiated from the lower right corner. And over it's once white paintwork, here and there, were sprays of a dark substance that glistened in the weak light, just like the puddles and splashes on the ground. The roof had also been affected, with a great long dent running almost the whole length, while near the front a rounded mass protruded, looking like nothing other than a man with his head and upper torso sticking out of the roof.

Slowly it rolled down the street, picking it's way between wrecked cars, piles of rubble, and the bodies. All the changes were gradual, as if the driver wanted the line of least change. In part this was correct. The driver did not want to overtax the engine anymore, and did not want to cause unneeded, and unnecessary, discomfort to those who rode in the back.

Down the right side a large sliding door could be made out, and staring out of the rear most window of said door, a man could be seen. He watched every thing they passed, covering each and everything with the compact, business like weapon he held in a professional two-handed grip, the stock tight to his shoulder.

As they passed one of the few working lights, his face was thrown into sharp relief for a few seconds. Lined and lean, almost hawkish, mid 40's, his face was that of a typical military officer. The cap that was pulled down tight over his head covered most of his head, but a few beads of sweat dotted his creased forehead, and the lines around his eyes revealed much more about his current state. Not only did they show the grim concentration of a professional solider, but also the strain he was under. But most of all, his face showed the tiredness that filled him. Not the tiredness of a long day, nor the tiredness of an intensive experience, though both were there, but there was also the tiredness of a day filled with terror and fuelled by adrenaline.

"We've got to find a place to rest, soon." He muttered, half to himself. Even his voice, under the clipped accent that most military types picked up after years of service, sounded tired, filled with strain.

"What about that place up ahead, on the corner?" came a voice from above. The man glanced to his left, at the backside and legs of the other man who had spoken. His torso, head and arms were almost completely hidden from sight, as he was standing up though a hole torn in the roof so he could see all round, and bring his weapon to bear on any target. It was a dangerous thing to do, as the edges were sharp and jagged. The only thing preventing him being sliced in two if the bus were to suddenly lurch was the body armour he wore.

The old solider leaned forward and to the left slightly, the better to see out of the cracked windscreen between the driver and the front passengers. Up ahead the main street they were travelling down was crossed by another, and on the far side of this crossing, tight into the corner, stood a largish building, with what looked like a wall enclosing some ground around the far two sides. No other buildings were close by, and like all others there were no signs of life. They had come to the edge of town.

He leaned back and looked over his shoulder. "Recognise it?" he asked the man sitting there, who leaned forward himself to see.

"Yes," he said, his voice slightly older and without the military mannerisms of the first. "A old style tavern, acts as the point of contact between the city and the people who live in the countryside. It's old, built back when this region was more, unstable. If I remember rightly, it has thick walls with shuttered windows, has rooms for let on the second floor, and has a walled section round the rear, originally for carriages and horses, with gates that can be barred."

"Thanks doc, I'll take it." Replied the first man, the humour driving a little of the strain from his voice. "Keep an eye out people, especially when we're crossing that other road." Most of the other people in the minibus tensed and straightened slightly, the light glinting off the weapons as they were raised a little higher, showing that, despite the strain, their tiredness and injuries, they were determined to stay alert.

Slowly the minibus edged out across the intersection. Everyone capable looked intently around, but there was no sign of life anywhere. It was as quiet as the grave as the minibus slowed further, and begun to swing into the open gateway.

"Teal'c, as soon as we stop, get those gates shut."

"Understood" came the deep reply from the rear, from a large human shape staring out the ruined rear window. The voice showed no sign of emotion to those who didn't know him, but those four in the bus who did, the strain and tension was audible.

"I'll help." Spoke up a young female voice, across from the man addressed as Teal'c. She sounded scared half out of her mind, and the tiredness was there, but underneath there was steel. Teal'c turned his head towards the voice, towards the slight female figure, and bowed his head silently, his way of showing respect and acknowledgement.

Slowly the bus passed the gates and drew to a halt. As soon as it had completely stopped, the twin rear doors swung open, then first, one, then another figure climbed down and made their way to the gates. The first was tall, broad-shouldered, carrying a long staff-like object longer than he was tall, with bulbous ends. The second was much smaller, almost petite, slim, with a long trail of hair. Together they began pushing the massive heavy wooden gates shut, one each. Surprisingly, the small female seemed to move her half of the gate just as well as he did. Once the gates were closed, they both took a hold of the great piece of timber that lay to one side, and placed it in the hooks on the back of the gates, barring it from within, a relic of a bygone era.

As they made their way back to the bus, he retrieving his odd shaped staff, she a crossbow almost too big for her she had been carrying, the side door slid open. As it opened, there was a clattering as the spent bullet cases that had collected in the foot well were released and fell to the ground. The sound almost, but not quite covered the splashing sound as a dark liquid, which had also collected in the foot well, flowed out. The lean faced man stepped out, shifting remaining bullet cases that were still in the foot well with his boot.

"Alright, my team will check it out. The rest of you stay here." He said into the bus interior. Slowly two more figures climbed out, the second nearly slipping on the spent casings on the ground. No one spoke. Most were too tired to do so.

The two new figures, the lean faced man and Teal'c made their way to the building. The first man and one of the new figures, both carrying the same compact weapon, flipped a switch near the front of their weapons, and small torches lit up small areas of the wall.

A few small windows on the ground floor, one simply wooden door and a trio of normal sized windows on the second floor were the only features of the slab sided building. They reached the door, Teal'c crouching directly in front of it, a few feet away, the narrower end of his staff pointed right at it. The two with the two handed weapons crouched either side, while the fourth, with only a handgun, stood with his hand on the handle, ready to swing it open. The end of the staff split slightly with an electrical crack, and tiny yellow sparks ran the length of the splits between the four sections.

The guy with his hand on the door looked at the leader. He nodded. Quickly the other man stepped away, opening the door as he did. The other three watched, but there was no sign of anything within the short corridor that faced them.

"Carter." Said the leader. The other person looked at him, nodded, then rose slightly and moved into the hall, pressed up against the wall, covering the three doors that led deeper into the building. The man who spoke was next in, taking up position on the other side.

"Daniel." He said, motioning the man who had opened the door inside, then pointed at the door to the left. Daniel moved into, opened that door, before bringing out a full sized torch, switching it on, and proceeding into the room.

"Carter." The leader said, motioning towards the right hand door. The other figure in the hall slid forwards and opened the indicated door, and looked in.

"Looks like a office, Colonel" said the person called Carter from within the room. Her voice also had traces of the accent of the Colonel, but was much younger.

"Okay. Daniel?" Said the Colonel, directing his enquiry into the room in which Daniel had gone, as he moved up to the last door, pressing himself against the wall to it's side.

"Err… a set of toilets, and what looks a kitchen Jack." Came the slightly muffled reply. Daniels voice didn't sound military. Instead he sounded like some college professor.

"Alright. Teal'c?" At this Teal'c, who was still kneeling outside, stood up and walked in, raising his staff as he did so. As he reached the door, he reached for the handle. After a quick look at the Colonel, who nodded once, he pulled the door open. Jack swung around and down, ending up on one knee in the doorway, Teal'c's staff head just above his own head.

The room they looked into was large, filling the corner of the building. Just to the left an archway led to a set of stair leading upwards. A large, heavy wooden bar ran along a wall from the far outside of the arch, running most of the length of the room. At the far end it angled away, with another arch over the bar, then a short piece of wall, then a third arch linking it to the far wall. The outer wall was angled in the corner as well, matching the bar, with a small antechamber running from the front door. A number of small tables and a scattering of simple wooden chairs were spaced in the open area. Longer seats ran along the wall just to the right, and on both sides of the door. Barstools stood in front of the bar, while behind it several shelves lined with bottles ran along the wall. The whole place looked like it had been transplanted straight out of a western.

"Alright, Teal'c, Carter, check upstairs." Said, Jack, rising from his kneeling position and moving out into the room. As he did so, a door behind the bar swung open. Acting on instinct, Jack swung round, pointing his weapon at the door… and was nearly blinded by the light the figure in the door was holding.

"Whoa, whoa, Jack, it's me."

Slowly Jack lowered his gun. "Blast it Daniel, watch were you point that thing."

"Sorry. Err, there's a storage room back there, with some fridge and freezer units, plus loads of shelves. There's still power and food, but looks like no ones home."

" Alright, check the other side of that wall, then start closing and bolting the shutters over the windows facing the streets. And close the windows themselves and draw the curtains. Don't want them seeing any light or hearing anything."

Daniel nodded slowly, then worked his way along the bar then went round the corner.

Jack sighed, rubbed at his eyes, and moved over to the door. Seeing it was ajar, he quickly checked down each street he could see, before closing and bolting the thick wooden doors._ 'Won't stop the larger ones,' _he thought to himself '_but it will hold back the smaller types and buy us some time.'_

He then walked over to the last of the archways, and looked over the room therein. It seemed to be a more upmarket lounge area than the rest of the bar, filled as it was with two groups of more ornate and comfortable couches. He could see that the bar continued around to this section, but the room was only about two thirds as long as the bar. As he watched, Daniel climbed over the bar on this side and walked over to the farther of the two windows in the room that looked out onto the street. Kneeling on the seat, he quickly closed the wooden shutters and drew the curtains that covered them.

Jack returned to the bar section and did the same to the window closest to the door he had entered. As he closed the shutters, he noticed that the window was recessed into the wall, with the shutters flush to the wall. There was about four inches between the shutters and the window, which was only a foot by a foot. '_Good, nice and tight. Only the smallest ones will be able to squeeze though these.'_ The curtains were heavy felt, completely covering the shutters. Perfect for ensuring no light would escape outside.

"Colonel, we've finished our sweep." Came Carters voice from the small radio clipped to Jack's left shoulder. He reached up and pressed the transmit button.

"Anything?"

"Negative sir. No ones here, no bodies, nothing. Looks like whoever was here ran as soon as they heard what was going on further in the city."

"No big surprise. Alright, get down here and start bringing the others in."

"Roger that, sir."

"O'Neill." Teal'c's voice replaced Carters. "The main bedchamber has a window that overlooks the intersection. An excellent point for a lookout, able to provide suppressing fire in two directions."

"Good work Teal'c. We'll sort that out later. Right now we need to get everyone and everything out of the minibus and in here."

"Understood."

Daniel finished bolting down the last shutter on the end wall, and began to close the remaining shutters. O'Neill resumed doing so as well, and quickly they had all the windows shuttered and covered. Looking around, Jack spotted the light switches behind the counter. He flicked a few switches, and small lamps along the walls glowed with a warm light.

"Ahhh, that's better." Jack sighed as he slid into one of the barstools. He put down his automatic rifle on the counter, rubbing his eyes again. Turning around, he saw Daniel slump into one of the longer benches by the door, his eyes closed behind his glasses, his brown hair hanging down in sweaty clumps from beneath his broad-brimmed slate-grey hat.

'_He looks like I feel'_ thought Jack, as sounds of movement came from the short passageway leading out back.

First one though was large man, almost as tall as Teal'c, but broader in the shoulder, the muscles in his arms lean, showing that they were there for use and not show. His heavy black body armour, combined with his muscled body, almost made his head, with it's light brown crew cut and top mop of bleached blonde look comical, but the expression on his face wiped any humour from the scene.

Although he was armed, with one of the largest shotguns ever made slung over one shoulder and a massive machete on his left thigh strapped over the urban camouflage pants he wore, he did not carry any weapon in his arms. Instead, within the massive arms covered by turquoise sleeves, he carried a young woman dressed in black clothes, from her knee length boots, shorts and rider suit top. Under her blond hair, her skin was pale, and the reasons were clear as to why: her midsection was bandaged heavily, with a red stain near the centre. The man quickly walked over to the bench on the far side of the door, and with gentleness at odds with his massive size, laid the girl on it. The white letters spelling out TRAT on the back of his body armour were clearly visible as he bent over her, gentle stroking her head. Jack was still unsure what that meant about the two.

Carter was next. She still held the automatic rifle in her right hand, but in her left she carried a large grey metal case, standard military supplies. Like O'Neill, Daniel and Teal'c she wore slate-grey combat fatigues, with a black vest festooned with pockets and pouches. On her left arm a grey emblem could be seen, and she had a cap like O'Neill's on, but some of her blond hair hung down from under it. The vest was slashed down one side, and she walked with a slight limp, favouring her left leg, which was bandaged around the lower half. Her right check also had a vivid slash across it, from which blood had welled up and run down a short way. She laid the case down on the table in front of Daniel, and then sat down next to him.

The third person to walk though was male, rugged and weather beaten underneath the off-white shirt, brown pants and fedora. In fact, these, combined with the saddle pack he wore across his body, bullwhip hanging from his belt just above it, and the holstered revolver on his right leg, made it look like he, like the bar, had walked right off the set of an old western. He was carrying another supply case in his left hand, while in his right he had an old rifle, dating back to World War II. Depositing the case next to the one Carter had put down, he slid into another bar stool, the shreds of his sleeves hanging from him, as he took his head in his hands and leaned his elbows on the counter. "I'm getting too old for this." He muttered, his voice as weather beaten as his face, his mannerisms dating back as old as the rifle he had lent against the bar.

A young woman was next though, struggling with a large wooden case. Small, with a rounded face and dark red hair, she managed to heave the box onto a table, then simply dropped into the nearest chair. She sighed, and lent back, clearly exhausted. Reaching up to wipe her forehead, she seemed surprised that her fingers came away bloody from a nasty cut just below the hairline. '_God,' _O'Neill thought,_ 'she can't be more that 20 years old'_

Two men staggered though after her. The one, pale skinned, white haired, grizzled with a scar running down to his right eye, leaned heavily on the younger, raven haired black man. They both wore similar clothes: Grey pants, grey short sleeved tops, with black fingerless gloves and armoured vest, similar to O'Neill's. The black man held a M16 assault rifle in his free hand as he helped the other man to a free space on one of the benches. The older mans right leg was trailing, with a red stained bandage covering almost the whole of his thigh, but he refused to let go of the MP5 sub-machinegun he held. The black guy eased him down to a sitting position, then sat besides him, brushing at the bandage around his own forehead, the white standing clear out against his skin. He too had been limping slightly. His left ankle had been badly sprained during a fall.

Another woman walked in, almost in a daze. Her reddish hair was pulled back into a rough ponytail, and her left arm hung limp. The left shoulder of the khaki jacket she wore was in shreds, and the state of her own shoulder underneath was not much better. She had several bandages around her legs, visible since she wore khaki shorts. She too simply flopped into a chair, letting her tattered backpack slide off before she did so.

The next man that walked though was quite similar to the man leaning on the bar. He too wore a lose shirt, pale blue rather than off white, battered jeans and a tan fedora. He too was weather beaten; his face and general build indicating that he spent most of his time outdoors. He had clearly not shaved for some time, and he held a standard 12-gauge shotgun awkwardly, in the manner of one who knows how to use such a gun, but does not on a regular basis.

A woman was next. Short, with brunette hair, she was also dressed in slate-grey, but lacked the black vest of O'Neill and the others. She also only had a holstered pistol at her hip, instead carrying several cases emblazoned with the universal red-cross indicating medical supplies. The front of her fatigues were spotted with red patches, since as the most qualified doctor and medic, she had been tending to peoples injuries. The right sleeve had been torn off, and a bandage was wrapped around her upper arm, but it was a relatively minor injury, compared with others. After resting the cases on a spare table, she slumped in the nearest chair, leaning on the cases, totally drained.

After a slight delay, another man limped in. Tanned skin, dressed completely in black, with dark hair, he was heavily favouring his left leg. It had been smashed once before, and the events of the last few hours had almost caused it to begin to break up again. His black clothes were stained, and his right hand was wrapped in bandages. He limped over to the woman with the torn shoulder, and then eased himself into the chair next to her. She responded by leaning onto him, and he wrapped an arm around her, mindful of her shoulder.

The next person was a female O'Neill knew. She was tall and slim, but curved in all the right places, and her brunette hair was tied back in an incredibly long, complex ponytail. Under normal circumstances, males all around would have been staring at her, desiring her. But right now was not the time for such thoughts. With one forearm wrapped in bandages, her black short-sleeved top torn from one shoulder, blood stains over that region, and the two massive handguns that were slung in the gun holsters on her thighs, she looked less like she had walked out of a super model magazine and more like out of a war zone. Which she had, in a sense.

After her was a man of medium build, brown hair, wearing a now worthless suit. When they had first meet, he had been cool, sophisticated, seemingly unmoved by the chaos around them. O'Neill had, of course, considered him a stuck-up British aristocrat. Now, after several hours chancing death, his view had changed. The man was smart, determined, and a crack shot. Now, he allowed his weariness to show, as he carried another case though, before sitting down on a free spot on one of the benches, Winching as he did so. His left leg was bandaged almost the whole length, to match the long jagged gash down that leg covered by the bandage.

'_Only three, no two, more to go.' _thought O'Neill, as a young woman entered. She was also barely 20, but carried herself with the air of one who has been in this sort of situation before. Surprisingly, despite her frail appearance, thin and almost no meat on her, she had no trouble carrying the standard supply case in her left hand, while the right held a strange weapon. It looked like an ancient crossbow, ready to fire, with three or four more bolts wrapped around the staff. It had a set-up similar to a pump action shotgun underneath, and O'Neill knew from watching that it worked in a similar way. Pumping the fore grip would prime the bowstring and bring another bolt into position.

However, O'Neill could see, with his years of military experience, that she was on the verge of breaking down. Her midriff was wrapped in bandages, and her long pale blond hair was matted with sweat and blood. She slumped into a chair next to the other young, redheaded, woman.

Finally Teal'c entered, an ammo case under his arm and his staff weapon, it's tip now closed. He was a big man, round jowls, dark skined and completely bald. The gold emblem on his forehead had blood collected in the grooves, and he was heavily bandaged over his left shoulder. As he placed the case, carefully, on the counter, O'Neill could see that the bandaging was even heavier over his shoulder blade. Each movement of his arm would cause agony, but Teal'c, as always, did not give vent to his pain. It was just not his way. He then stood by the door. He was relapsing into old habits.

The last person though shut the door behind her, and then leaned against it, signing heavily. She was dressed in a grey body stocking, no arms, that run from high on her neck down into the black leather boots that stopped just below her knees. Over this she wore a conforming black armour vest, covering her entire torso, from a few inches below her neck down to her crotch. It looked almost like a one-piece bathing suit. She also wore long gloves made of the same material as the body stocking, running from mid-upper arm down and under her fingerless black gloves. The strangest thing about her though was her hair. It was a bright, vibrate red, the sort of colour that it took dyes to get normally, but this was her natural colour. The hair of her eyebrows was a couple of shades darker, as were her eyelashes.

She was also heavily armed. Strapped to her left thigh was the scabbard for one of the newest stun rods, capable of rendering a fully-grown man incapable of movement for several seconds. On her right was a holstered Glock pistol, and O'Neill knew that she also had a brace of submachine guns at the small of her back. In contrast, the M249 SAW she held in her right hand seemed massive, the end of its barrel almost reaching the floor.

Suddenly she groaned and her left hand moved to her right side.

"You okay Regina?" The young black man had looked up at her when she groaned.

"Yeah, Rick, I'm okay." She replied. She straightened and seemed to push the pain back. "How's Gail?"

Rick turned back to the man he had been helping. "Not good, but he survived Ibis Island with worse than this, so he should be okay."

The brunette woman got up at this point. "Here, let me take a look." She said, advancing on Regina.

"Really, I'm fin..aahh!" Regina gasped, her hand going back to her side, and she almost dropped the SAW.

O'Neill quickly walked over and took the SAW from her, as the other woman took Regina's shoulders. "Go with Dr Fraiser, Regina. Or do I have to make it an order?" he said, a mock threatening tone in his voice.

Regina looked up at him. "Nice try Colonel, but wrong division. I don't report to the US Air Force" she replied with a scathing look, and then groaned again.

"Well, you'll at least listen to this one." He turned to Janet. "There are more comfortable couches in the room though there." He pointed at the far archway leading to the lounge area.

"Thanks Colonel." Said Janet. Slowly she guided Regina though to the other room.

O'Neill watched them go, and then heard a low chuckle coming from one side. He turned to Rick, seeing that he was the one chuckling, while even Gail, the pale haired man, also seemed amused. Slightly.

"Never thought I'd see the day when Regina couldn't handle the pain anymore, and needs help to get to a doctor." He said in reply to Jacks queried look.

"I heard that!" Came Regina's voice from the other room. Rick just looked smug.

"Tough woman?" Jack asked.

"You could say that." Rick shrugged. "She definitely hates to show any weakness, no matter much she suffers."

"Figures. What was Ibis Island?"

Rick hesitated. "That's Classified."

"That's not good enough. I know about a lot of classified stuff. What happened?"

"I can't tell you." Rick visibly squirmed.

"Anything like what's happening now?" Jack pushed.

Rick just nodded. "Something similar to it, yeah."

Jack sighed, then went and sat back down on the barstool. He turned and looked over at the British man. "Got any more special tricks up your sleeves?"

The man looked up, a faint smile on his face. "Sorry, I ran out a while ago. There may have been more in my car, but…" his voice trailed off.

"Yeah, I know."

Slowly Jack looked over all of the others in the room. Some he knew well, others barely. Each one had come from different backgrounds, different lives. But they all had one thing in common. '_We have survived this far,' _thought Jack. '_Now we just have to survive the night, then the day after, and the day after that….'_

Slowly he rested his head in his hand as he thought over what had happened in the last 20 hours…

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**DR: **Well, there we go for now. In a week, we'll see how the one set of characters got into this mess...Oh, and the more reviews I get, the more likely that I'll finish this story...XD  



	2. SG1,1

**DR: **Okay, for here on we will be jumping between each group of characters, until they all meet up. First off, we have SG-1... (timeframe wise, mid season 6. Replaces episodes where Janet is killed (a very bad move IMHO))

**O'Neill: **Cool.

**DR: **Just a little note. At this point I started to try and write this to fit a phrase (something about walls being built to keep things out or in) to fit with a competion, so I've tried to explain certain aspects of each character set using that premise.I hope I've got the characterisation right...

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Colonel Jack O'Neill stood at the window, a small, compact set of binoculars to his eyes as he surveyed the estate. There was no other word for the great walled off compound, with it's large ornate house surrounded by lush planting, with a gravelled drive running though wrought iron gates in the surrounding wall and leading from the building down to the roadway. The trees within the compound had grown tall, and they overhung the wall and cast shadows over most of the enclosure from the high and powerful sun. 

"Hmm, nice place." O'Neill muttered, with a trace of sarcasm.

Major Samantha Carter, standing next to O'Neill, turned from her own binoculars to cast a wry smile at her commanding officer of a little over 6 years. She was used to his ways now.

Both of them were resting their elbows on the window still, while the others finished setting up the rest of their equipment in the rented room. The old man who owned the building was not the sort to ask questions, though his eyebrows did rise at the sight that confronted him early that morning. It was not everyday that three men and two women, all carrying a large amount of luggage, wanted a set of rooms together in a low-down establishment such as this.

As Carter returned her attention to the estate across the road, she could just hear Dr Janet Frasier muttering under her breath. As a Doctor, the state of the large room, with its plain but grubby walls, the sink and shower that probably had not seen a good clean since they were installed in the small en-suite bathroom, and the central piece of furniture, the large queen-sized bed, which had seen a lot of heavy use, was appalling. Sickening even. She had argued against the selection of this place as a their jump off point, but even Sam had agreed it was the best place to start from, where they could oversee the target. '_All the same,'_ Sam thought to herself,_ 'I'll be glad to get out of this place. And out of these clothes.'_

In order to move around the first day without attracting too much attention, they had all dressed in civilian clothes, but since the city was on the northern coast of South America, the standard amount was much lower than Sam was comfortable with. Sure, if she was on holiday she wouldn't mind so much, but she was here with her friends and colleagues. And that was much worse.

Together they had created the look of a group of friends coming down to the sunny coastal resort for some fun in the sun, with particular attention to the 'fun' part. Dress code had been skimpy. Jack, Teal'c and Daniel all had simply vests and shorts, complete with trainers. Both Jack and Daniel also had loose short-sleeved shirts. Jack completed his set up with a floppy brimmed straw hat and shades. Daniel wore a baseball cap on backwards, while Teal'c had a pale ten-gallon hat pulled well down, needed to hide the symbol of Apophis on his forehead. It had been up to Sam and Janet to complete the picture and reinforce the image of a group of frolicking friends. Neither of them had been pleased at the prospect of this.

Janet had been forced into a tank top that left a strip of her stomach bare above the tight shorts she had been given. She seemed taller now, partly the high-healed shoes she was wearing, but also without her uniform, she seemed thinner, slimmer. She had tied a shirt around her waist, to prevent men staring at her backside, and her brunette hair was brushed up and under the cap she wore. Janet had refused to change until they reached to airport a few miles out of town, like Sam had. When she had come out, she had been blushing very red, and had nearly swung on one guy who had let out a wolf whistle.

Sam felt even more exposed. As a member of the United Air Force, she was one of only a few women. In the SGC, out of the whole complement of almost two hundred, there were only half a dozen women, including Major Carter and Dr Frasier. As such, Sam had made it a rule to avoid attracting as little attention to the fact that she was female as was possible. She only wore skirts as part of the dress uniform or unless needed to, the rest of the time she stayed in trousers, even when casually dressed. Dr Fraiser had adopted a similar, more extreme, tactic. She stayed in full uniform nearly all the time, with the sky blue shirt with rank tabs, knee length black skirt, and the long white coat of her profession.

Sam had shivered at the sight of her issued civvies. A form fitting pale blue one piece bathing suit, and large swath of cloth that when worn correctly could only loosely be given the term skirt. A pair of sandals completed the image. Whenever she walked, her long bare legs, her best assets, were on almost full display. Sam vowed to find the person responsible for this, and really teach them a lesson. Janet was of the same mind.

Slowly she moved her sights along the outer wall of the compound, in which Intelligence had heard rumours of advanced technology in use, along with a cult who worshiped a single person who, so the rumours went, could kill with a gesture. After the last report, of an unusual electrical disturbance and an explosion on the outskirts of the city, General Hammond had sent SG-1 in to investigate the possibility of a Goa'uld in control. With Aunbis running rampant throughout the galaxy, Earth could not afford to have a snake in their own back garden.

"CCTV security system sighted along the walls." Sam reported. "And that wall looks at least eight feet tall."

"No sign of any other entrances apart from that gate." Jack responded. "And there are at least two guards there." He shifted slightly. "Small guard towers hidden within the trees. Looks like one man jobs, with.." he paused as he focused in on one tower, while Sam was still trying to find any. Suddenly she picked out the shape of one from the tree fronds, the hunched form of a guard. ".50 calibres. I mark three of them." Slowly Jack lowered the binoculars, squinting slightly in the harsh sunlight reflected off the white washed walls of the compound.

"I guess they don't want any visitors."

"Yeah, and this is just what we can see." Jack muttered, feeling his heart sink. "So what could they have inside?"

"They must have bribed the governor and Police Chief not to bother them."

"Well, considering the state of this region of this country only a couple of years ago, then the City Council…" Daniel began.

"Never mind that." Jack interrupted. "I want to have a good look at the cliff side. Daniel, go see if you can charter a boat for us to use for a couple hours."

As Daniel went out to see about a boat, both O'Neill and Carter returned to their studying of the compound, both completely unaware that they were not the only ones doing so.


	3. Dino Crisis,1

**DR: **Now we meet the second team, whose past adventures is the core of this fanfic's idea. Right now though two of them are not as they usually appear...

**Disclaimer: **Just like I don't own SG-1, I don't own this lot, 'Dno Crisis'.

* * *

A short distance up the road from where Carter and O'Neill were staying, two people sat in a car, both watching the same estate as the SG team. Sitting in the passenger seat, the woman brought up a hand held radio. "You sure about this Rick?" 

"Positive Regina, that compound is definitely the place." Can the assured voice in reply.

"Good, so when do we go in?" The man besides her asked grumpily. "Cause I want out of this monkey suit."

Regina turned her head to look at her friend and managed not to laugh. Dylan Morden had always been rather gun-ho, while she and the others had been trained in stealth operations. Dylan had been in the army since his youth, and sitting in a South American city wearing chives was something he was just not comfortable with. Because of his size, there were very few clothes that fitted him. At 5ft 11, he was not unduly tall, but he had a lot of body mass, large muscles that allowed him to carry heavy equipment and granted him great stamina. So he was forced to wear a loose, flimsy Hawaiian shirt, patterned with lime green jagged stripes over an orange background, with swirls of purple completing the design. It was nauseating just looking at it.

"Dylan, we have got to scope out the security before we even take another step towards that place." She told him.

"Yeah, I know." Dylan sulked. "But why did you have to pick me to drive you out here?"

"Simple. With you here, I don't get pestered by the local youths." She told him, eying with barely concealed disgust a group of young male tourists hanging around on the corner nearby, several of whom glanced her way every now and again.

Dylan just grunted, conceding that she had a point. Regina was always attracting attention, even when she did not want to. There was no doubt she was attractive. Slim, kept in shape by her training, she was also tall, able to look many men eye to eye with her 5ft 9 statue. She had some mixed blood, as her eyebrows were slanted slightly over her large liquid eyes, indicating some oriental heritage. Those eyes most of the time showed only a cool, calculating outlook, but could also show extremes of emotion, on rare occasions. He had never been on the receiving end of one of her cold looks, but Dylan had seen enough that he knew those who did would have found more warmth in the Artic winter. But she could also show a lot of warmth and feeling. Dylan would never forget that look in her eyes when she had been forced to leave him behind in the Gate Room in Edward City, so that she could save them all.

She was now dressed in a broad strapped tank top, leaving her arms and neck exposed, showing off her complexion. Her skin was very smooth and pale, almost pearly white. She kind of looked like some oriental china doll come alive. The knee length saffron skirt she wore showed off a good portion of leg, but hid the few scars she carried.

The most shocking feature about her though was her hair. It was a powerful red, which in shadow darkened to a more 'normal' redhead colour, but in the sun like now was bright and vibrant. She kept it about an inch above shoulder length so it did not interfere with operations, and it hung straight as a ruler, catching almost any breeze. Dylan knew that most women would have had to dye their hair to get that kind of colouration, and would kill for hair that was so well behaved. Dylan couldn't remember a single time in the Edward City event when she had had to brush her hair out or disentangle it. It always seemed to just straighten out by its self.

But in her heart, Regina was a professional, and she was sweeping the compound with the mindset of one. She also kept most of colleges away for that reason. No emotional attachment. No great harm to her if one of her comrades fell in the line of duty. The few times she had been deeply hurt was when someone she cared about had died, so she maintained distance between her feelings and herself. Dylan watched as she stiffened slightly, her viewfinder paused.

"Light guard tower in the trees, with a .50 calibre." She began to sweep again. "Another one," she shifted again. "And a third. Looks like these people follow the same book as you Dylan." She joked. Dylan just grunted again.

So the owners of this estate were messing around with a time gate. That should have been impossible, as Dr Kirk had not even come up with the Third Energy idea yet. That wasn't due till 2006, and it was only early 2001. Dylan still was not sure about what had happened. Both he and his daughter, who had not even been born yet – heck, he had yet to meet her mother! – had been trapped in the gate room, waiting for the self-destruct of the strange facility to blow, hoping against hope that Regina would somehow save them. As he had watched a second computer tower fall towards them both, he had been stunned to see it slow down! He had throw up his arm in a futile gesture to block the tower, but even his arm seemed to be slowed. For what seemed an eternity nothing had moved, then he 'felt' a charge in the air. His skin crawled and the hairs stood upright. He only had time to think that it felt similar to how it had been when they had entered the Time Gate when both he and Paula had been engulfed in whiteness.

There had been a stomach churning lurch, then the whiteness had faded, to revel that they where now back inside a patrol boat, just like the one he and Regina had been using! A disk of metal flooring from the futuristic gate room was under them both, and a truncated section of computer tower was still resting on Paula's legs. As he had looked around in a daze, his eyes had come to rest on a relieved looking Regina. She had two other men with her, dressed in a similar fashion, except their body armour was the standard vest type and they had short-sleeved shirts and pants instead of her body stocking. Once the remaining chuck of computer tower was lifted away Rick, a young dark skinned African-American, had tried to explain how they had been saved while he had tended to both his and Paula's injures.

In essence what had happened was that they had had used the Time Gate built into the craft to take Dylan and Paula 'out of the time-space reference' for a few seconds. They remained in the same location as they had, but time had continued without them. Rick had brought them back into the flow of time when the whole planet had rotated enough to bring them out inside the patrol boat. It was sort of like teleportation, but was extremely difficult and dangerous. Rick would have continued to explain but Dylan had felt his eyes glaze over. Seeing that Dylan was in no condition to hear anything else, Regina had interrupted Rick, saying it was time to return home.

They had set out to return to their own time, but something went wrong. Instead of returning to 2010, they had ended up crashing down on the outskirts of this South American city. Fortunately they had been able to hide any trace of themselves and taken cover before the local police arrived.

Rick, the computer genius, had said that the time gate had been diverted by something, some power surge caused by an unknown source. The net result was that the craft had been dragged out of the time vortex into the same time frame as the disturbance, and close to the same location. Dylan couldn't make heads or tails of Ricks explanation. His main concern was that, while he and the others had come though safety, particularly Paula, the same could not be said of the patrol boat that had housed the gate. It had crashed hard into the ground, completely wrecking the gate and rupturing the fuel tank. They had had just enough time to gather their weapons and any portable equipment before they had to abandon the boat before it blew. A few well-placed grenades ensured that there would be nothing left behind for the people of this time to go on and realise how advanced it was compared to their own equipment.

After laying low for a couple of days, during which they had learned about where and when they were, and sorted out means of blending in, they had set out to find the source of the interference, hoping that they would be able to find a way to return home. Now the search was over, they had to consider how to enter this well guarded estate.

"All right, we can't get anything more here. Lets head back and see what Rick can pull up." Said Regina, putting her binoculars back into the handbag she had picked up from a local shop, the better to blend in.

"You know, I never really thought of you as woman who used a handbag…"

"Ooh you'll pay for that." But her tone was playful, not threatening.

Grinning, Dylan switched the ignition on and moved the small, clapped out hire car out onto the street.

* * *

**DR: **Well, I've got to go. Oh, and if you all review more, I'll be more inclined to finish this! 


	4. BtVS,1

**DR: **Now for our third set of characters, two young women from Sunnydale. Please note I'm not that sure about the BtVS timeline. I'm hazy about the bulk of the show, and very hazy on the collage years... so ifI mess up, sorry.

**Disclaimer: **Just like I don't own SG-1, Dino Crisis or anyone else here, I don't own these two.

* * *

"Here you are young ladies. As you can see, you have a large living area, with adjoined kitchen, and a balcony at the far end. Bedroom is through there, and this door leads to the bathroom." The porter placed the bags he was carrying on the small dining table and turned to the two young women. "Will there be anything else?"

"No, thanks."

The porter smiled as pleasantly as he could, then walked out of the suite. Must be one of those girl-girl couples, he thought as he closed the door behind himself.

After the door had closed, the one who had stayed quiet turned to her companion.

"Well, here we are Buffy." She grinned.

Buffy Summers grinned in return. "Yes, here we are. A real vacation for once!" She laid the small bag she was carrying on the table and strode out to the balcony. "Just think, for two weeks, I don't need to go on patrol every night, sharpen my stake, or worry about saving myself and everyone around me again."

Willow watched her best friend as she leant against the low wall that ran along the edge of the balcony, staring out to sea. At last she had a chance to truly relax. With her duties as a Vampire Slayer, Buffy never really had the time. But with the Hellmouth going dormant for a time, which Willow had sensed when in one of her deep magical trances, the whole gang had a chance to unwind, be normal for while. Or at least as normal as a Vampire Slayer, a Witch and an ex-demon could be.

As she moved out on the balcony with Buffy, Willow put her arm around her shoulders. "For a whole two weeks all we have to worry about are drinking too much, sunburn, and err, eating too much." Her face shifted to her panicky, worried look. "And drunk guys, and err drug pushers, and…and weird men in dark alleys, and…"

"Well, apart from the sunburn, normal worries then. And at least these weird guys don't plan on drinking your blood straight out of your neck."

"Oh, well then, that's okay." Willow said, her face brightening. She started back into the suite. "Come on, let's unpack, and then head down for the beach!"

"Yeah, be with you in a minute." Buffy muttered. As Willow went inside, Buffy stared out on to the Caribbean, and mulled over the way her life had gone. Certainly plenty of low points so far. Finding out that she was destined to be a Vampire Slayer had defiantly been one of the lowest. Just above being dead, losing Angel, twice, and a whole host of other nasty memories that Buffy would be glad to never remember. And what had the future in store for her? That was bleak. She was a Vampire Slayer, but she was also mortal, while there seemed to be an endless supply of demons, vampires, twisted humans and a whole host of other monsters out there waiting to kill her. And one of these days they would. Finally, her luck would run out, she was destined to die young.

No, that's not the way to think of it, she told herself, as she lowered her gaze to the beach below the hotel, where dozens of tourists like her were playing in the surf, lazing on the sand, and generally enjoying life. She still had a lot to live for. She had her friends, and that was one of the things that kept her going. She had never told anyone of them, but them being there for her, helping her, taking some of the burden for her, had helped her stay alive and more importantly, stay sane after all these years.

Willow had been there from the beginning, backing her up with her computer skills, finding out the most obscure stuff about these demons without a voice of protest. She was loyal and always did the right thing. And now she was a full powered witch, she was able to help herself every now and again. Although her recent break up with Tanya had been hard on Willow, she was strong, deep down, and was surviving. In truth Buffy had never trusted Tanya, and this difference had built a wall between the life-long friends. This trip to the sun was a step towards healing those wounds.

But Buffy would not get too close again. After she lost Angel the first time, Buffy had nearly lost it. It had been a long while before she had recovered, only for him to drop in again. Their parting the second time was just as raw, just as emotional, and it had hurt her deeply. But she had accepted that it was just as hard for him, so she had let him walk away.

After that, Buffy had been determined to find a nice, normal, mortal man, who was in no way strange. But fortune had not been kind, and she had ended up with a trooper from a secret US military force, only for him to go as well a while later. After that Buffy had had a string of bad luck when it came to romance, and so she was no longer searching for love. Buffy had started to build emotional distance between herself and everyone around her, so that when her number, or theirs, finally came up, the pain would be less.

Her friends knew this, Willow especially, but they did not know how to stop her doing so. That was part of the reason Willow had brought Buffy on this trip, hoping to get her more relaxed and open up more. She was worried about her.

Leaning out the French windows, Willow could see that Buffy was sliding into one of her dark moods again, where she would question everything in her life. Willow knew that Buffy needed to stay out of that region.

"Hey, aren't you going to unpack and join me on the beach?" She asked sweetly.

As Buffy turned around, a smile drove the shadows that were forming on her face away and the Buffy that Willow had known was back. "Oh, yea, though I doubt my swim suit will fit any more. I can't remember the last time I wore it."

As Buffy breezed in, Willow beamed. Maybe over this holiday, she could get Buffy out of the black hole she was threatening to fall into.

* * *

**DR: **I know, a little short, but then I was originally planning of writting a proper novel length story. Plus I've found it hard to write stuff for these two. I'm on much firmer soil with SG-1 and DC... Don't forget to R&R! (I know things are building slowly, but I need to explain how everyone gets there, and what happens to bring them all to the point in the first chapter...) 


	5. Jurassic Park,1

**DR: **Here's the next set of characters, and how they ended up in what will be ground zero...

**Disclaimer: **You should know by now that I don't own any of these people...

* * *

Ian Malcolm sat quietly, at the small table outside one of the number of small local restaurants that surrounded the grandly named City Square. In the centre a large fountain sat, water cascading down it to splash playfully in the pool surrounding it. The Square was in the centre of the small city, and as such was one of the busiest places there was, with the exception of the tourist beach below the low cliff. Narrow roads led off from the Square, leading past the City Hall, on outward to the main though roads. The main Police station sat on one corner, while gift shops, food stalls and the local restaurants completed the rest of the ring. Down some of the narrow side streets lay the entrances to the nightclubs and discos that at this time of day, around 2:15pm according to Ian's watch, were closed.

Ian grimaced across to his companion. "He's taking his time, isn't he?" he complained. "Grant should be here by now."

"Now, now Ian, you do understand that Grant is a Palaeontologist, so his work must come first." She replied, tipping her head down from gazing at the sky to look Ian straight in the eye. "An interruption at the wrong moment could destroy a fossil, rendering weeks of pain staking work useless, and wasting hundreds, even thousands of dollars. And those don't come easily to palaeontologists."

"I suppose your right," Ian conceded. "But he did insist we come down here and meet him at two at this place, so the least he could do is be on time."

Sarah Harding didn't even reply to that, just smiled at him. She was used to Ian's ways, and in some ways could sympathize with him. But she was not only an Animal Behaviour expert, she too was a palaeontologist, so she could understand Dr Grants side in a way that Malcolm never could, despite his great intellect.

It was a shame that Ian Malcolm was not known as a great Mathematician, one of the leading experts on the new region of mathematics that dealt with non-linear equations, dubbed Chaos Theory, but rather by his experiences with Jurassic Park. Sarah had been on Isle Sona herself, and could understand what John Hammond had been trying to do, but the events that had resulted from his attempt were unacceptable. Many people had died for no good reason.

Dr Alan Grant had been there for both the first and third incidents involving the dinosaurs on those two islands, and of all the survivors, was both the most fascinated, and the most disgusted, by the 'genetically engineered movie monsters' as she had heard him describe the dinosaurs on those islands. He was of an old breed; one which believed that only by digging with one's own hands and feeling the rock and bone could one draw correct facts. His distaste for computers was almost legendary, as was his disdain for any form of advanced technology that removed the scientist from his subject.

Just then, a dirty white jeep pulled out of one of the side roads and rolled around to park next to the café were Ian and Sarah were sitting. Alan Grant stepped out, as weather beaten as ever. He never seemed to even try to clean out all the dirt and dust that came with his line of work from his clothes. He glanced around till he spotted them both, and then strode over, carrying a large cloth bag in his left hand. He extended his right to Malcolm.

"Good to see you made it Malcolm."

Malcolm shook Alan's hand "Good to see you too."

Grant turned to Sarah "Nice to finally meet you Sarah Harding."

Sarah also shook hands with Grant "Likewise."

After they had all sat down, Ian turned to Grant. "So, what was so important that you had to have us come rushing down here, hmm?"

Alan's ruggedly handsome face turned deadly serious. "Okay. Straight to the point." He leaned closer in to the others. "Remember the Raptors?"

"How could we forget?" Sarah replied. Ian just shivered.

"Well, one of the things that has always bothered me about them is that they were much larger than the Raptors I've dug up." Grant explained. "I mean, the bone structure was pretty correct, with a few minor differences, such as the fore part of the snout, but those beasts were almost as tall as us. The Raptors I've dug out of the rock have been about half as high."

He now had both Ian's and Sarah's full attention.

"Now, even taking into account the crushing effects of all that rock that got compacted on top of those skeletons, they still came out significantly smaller. And while a related species is of the correct height, the bone structure is too different for it to have been a simple case of mistaken identity."

"So," Sarah breathed. "What does this mean?"

"I thought it simply a case that the genetic tampering by InGen had created extra large versions of the Velociraptor, but then I came out here to a new site, and I found this." At this point Grant withdrew a large photograph from within his bag. He turned it around so both Ian and Sarah could see it. It showed Alan working in a shallow trench cut from the rocky ground, with a Raptors skeleton in the base. "I checked at least three times. There is no doubt. This skeleton would have come from one of InGen's raptors."

"But that means…"

"Yes," Alan nodded. "There must be a new species of raptor, which InGen stumbled on, without realising, and they used the DNA from this species. Makes me wonder about several things."

He laid the photograph down. "Just how much of the InGen creature _was_ historically correct?"

Both Ian and Sarah looked at each other. They knew _exactly_ what Grant was referring to.

* * *

**DR: **Only two more sets to introduce... stay tuned! And R&R! 


	6. Tomb Raiders,1

**DR: **And here's a pair of world wise ones. I'm using a story byAlexis Rockford(Raider Rivalry) as background for this little area (explains how these two know each other...)

* * *

In the main lounge of one the plusher hotels in the small city; a lady sat drinking her tea. Quite a few guests, mainly male ones, kept looking over at her, but none so far had dared approach. At least, not since the last chap who had had a bit too much to drink.

_'Well, this has been a total waste of time.'_ She thought to herself.

Lara Croft, world famous treasure hunter, explorer, labelled 'The Tomb Raider' by several magazines, had come down to this remote corner of South America pursuing a rumour. There was an ancient temple that, so the rumour went, was supposed to contain 'The Gantlet of Strength'. It was supposed to have the power of the gods, and grant incredible strength to the wearer. Anyone wearing it would literally be capable of bringing down buildings with their bare hands, or throwing tanks around like they were tennis balls. Lara had hoped of finding such a treasure. But three weeks of searching on foot, plus Bryce running every computer-based search that he could think, had turned up absolutely nothing.

Now Bryce was on his way home – he had flown out, along with most of her luggage, earlier that morning. Lara' flight wasn't till late this afternoon. Glancing at her watch, she saw that she still had 5 hours to kill.

_'Still, it was nice to get out of the house and do something' _she though as she stretched her arms above her. Although she wouldn't admit it, she had enjoyed the long walks though the jungle, knowing that she didn't need to worry about the 'usual' things – pit traps, exceptionally aggressive animals, undead skeletons, magically powered rock creatures, and a whole host of other dangers that went with her chosen lifestyle. She had lost count of the number of times she had nearly lost it, but she had survived.

"Well, Lady Croft. I'm surprised to see you here." Said a voice behind her.

After all her travels, it took a lot to surprise Lara Croft. But she found herself twirling round, automatically reaching for her hand guns – that she was not wearing, and looking directly into the eyes of the man behind her, grinning broadly.

"Indy!" She cried as she gripped the man in a hug. As they parted, she grinned as well. "It's so nice to see you again."

Indiana Jones, world famous explorer and archaeologist, continued to smile broadly as he sat in the chair opposite her. "You too Lara. How has life been treating you?"

"Oh, bout the same as always. Spending long breaks at home, before dashing around the world chasing ancient artefacts. Just like you did." She replied. "Except you taught kids instead of taking long breaks lounging around your home." Lara shuddered slightly at the thought of being a teacher.

"It wasn't as bad as that." Indy scalded her, his voice, still sounding slightly off when compared to modern dialects, taking on a lecturing tone. "Besides, I didn't have a duke for a father."

"I know, I was just teasing." Lara replied, smiling coyly. "So, how about you? Caught up with the modern world yet?"

"Oh, I think so." Indy said, leaning back in his chair while adjusting the angle of his trademark fedora hat. "I still can't believe the power of these 'Computer' devices, but apart from that, I've adjusted. Luckily, my old bank accounts were still active, and the staff didn't bat an eyelid when I started using them again." He chuckled. "I've got more money then I know what to do with!"

"Welcome to the world of the super rich." Lara replied, understanding Indy's situation. "The interest from my families accounts _alone_ is more than enough to cover my life style twice over."

Indy winced "That's, serious money. Anyway, I just used what I needed while I caught up. The world has certainly changed." He grimaced. "And not for the better. What passes for TV these days is _appalling!"_

"Most people tend to agree, but they still watch the stuff." Lara sipped from her tea again. "So what brings you down to South America? If you're decided to return to your old ways and are looking for "The Gantlet of Strength', well I can tell you right now it not here, if it ever was."

"Eh?" Indy looked puzzled, then laughed. "No, I've decided to quit that life altogether. One 'Tomb Raider' in the world is enough." Lara beamed happily, while jokingly mopping her brow. "No, I've decided to refocus my aims elsewhere."

This intrigued Lara. "So, what field will you be studying?"

"Believe it or not, palaeontology." Lara whistled.

"So you've given up digging up stuff four, five, six hundred years old, and are switching to digging up stuff that is fifty, sixty, seventy million years old?"

Indy simply nodded.

"So tell me, why the change?" Lara asked. "I mean, you're more than qualified for archaeology, why switch over to something new? Correct me if I'm wrong, but digging up bones from rock is boring. Not to mention back-breaking, tedious, and slow."

"Lara, you may find this hard to believe, but I've had enough adventure in my lifetime." Indy sighed. "I've spent most of my natural life dodging booby traps, dangerous men, Nazis, deadly reptiles…"

"And snakes." Lara grinned. She had heard of Indiana's famous phobia of snakes.

"Yes, and snakes." Indy shuddered. "No, I've had enough adventure to satisfy two lifetimes. I dare say at some point you too will reach the same point as I have. No, I want no more adventures, but I what to do something." His eyes sparkled. "And compared to back then, palaeontology is a vibrant subject now." He looked at his watch. "In fact, I'm due to meet a established palaeontologist here soon. I've talked to various people in both fields, and in a way they are interchangeable. One of them put me in contact with this man, saying that I'm an experienced archaeologist, who's been out of the loop for a while…"

Lara laughed. "Yes, fifty odd years is while."

Sharing her laughter with her, Indy continued. "Yes, I suppose it is. Anyway, I've been out of the spotlight for a while, and since I can't get back in, I'm interested in transferring. Apparently, he could use an extra experienced person, as most of his digs are crewed by collage kids. And he's always had a bit of trouble with kids, with a few exceptions…"

"So your teaching experience makes you ideal." Lara concluded. Mulling it over, she nodded. "Makes sense. Who is he?"

"I'm sure you've heard of him. Dr Alan Grant."

Lara felt her jaw drop. "THE Alan Grant?" She asked. "The Alan Grant who has been causing a major stir within palaeontology circles with his theories? The Dr Grant who survived two separate incidents involving a certain pair of Islands north of here?" Indy simply nodded again.

Lara was surprised for the second time that day. She remembered clearly the stories about Alan Grant, the "Dinosaur Man" who had achieved what most palaeontologists considered a dream: meeting actual dinosaurs. Although Grant, and several others, had been quick to point out that the dinosaurs of both Isle Inbula and Isle Sonra were not _true_ dinosaurs but genetically modified versions of them, many of what were considered 'arm-chair' dinosaur hunters believed that studying the creatures roaming those two islands would answer many of the age old questions about them. Grant publicly denounced the development of InGen, which had collapsed after the second 'Incident'. A Tyrannosaurs Rex, foolishly brought into San Diego on the Chairman's orders, had wrecked havoc. It caused thousands of dollars of damage and killing a half dozen people, including the Chairman. Somehow John Hammond, the founder and former chairman of InGen, had managed to get public support for his movement that the islands should be left alone and the animals not destroyed. Both islands were considered no-go zones, but people were allowed to fly over them and sail around them. They provided a source of income for people who worked in several ports and fishing villages that lined the ocean.

Lara finally found her voice. "Well, you are certainly moving in high circles, Dr Jones. How long before this meeting of yours?"

Indy looked at his watch. "About 20 minutes." He looked back at her, raising one eyebrow. "Why, your interested?"

"Well, I would be interested in meeting him." Lara confessed. "But I'm also curious as how you're going to explain who you really are, if he recognises you."

"I'll play it by ear."

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**DR: **One more player to bring in, I promise. And then we can start bringing them all together... Please R&R! 


	7. 007,1

**DR: **And now we meet the last of our heros...

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The local airport, a small affair, only really capable of handling small to medium sized planes, was situated several miles outside of the city, further inland. There was only one road that snaked its way around the rolling hills and rocky outcrops, and that road was the only connection between the airport and the city. As such it was not a busy road, not even a quiet road. It was nearly deserted all the time, the only movement coming from the wind blown dust and the regular coach that linked the airport with the city centre, and that only ran every two days. Occasionally a privately owned car would drive along it, but even these didn't disturb the peace much.

The roar of a powerful engine shattered that peace. The sliver Aston Martin Vanquish raced along the dusty road, the driver enjoying the open road. Sitting inside, James Bond, British Secret Service Agent 007 wore a smug expression as he pushed the Vanquish even further. The last time he had the change to let the powerful Aston stretch it's legs, he'd been dodging bullets from a heavily customised Jaguar XKR, complete with mini gun. It had also been on a field of ice in the Artic, not the warm, almost soothing climate of the southern Caribbean.

Of course, the Vanquish was much more than meets the eye. It had been extensively modified by R, Q's replacement at MI6. After nearly being wrecked in the Artic, R and his team had overhauled, repaired and upgraded everything on the 'Vanish' as R called it.

As he crested a hill, Bond could see the small sleepy city ahead, with the Caribbean behind it. As he looked over it, he cast his mind back to his briefing in MI6 HQ two days ago. He'd been preparing for an assignment, when word had come down that the situation had defused by itself. Before he could unpack however, he'd called into M's office.

"007, we've got another assignment for you." M had stated. "Last night there was a freak electrical storm on the outskirts of Azorandes. What do you know of it?" That was M's style. Constantly keeping her agents on their toes, prodding them to keep them selves up to date on anything that might be related to their mission.

Bond had to admit, it took him a few seconds to recall the correct details. "Resort town, on the southern coast line of the Caribbean. Up till a few years ago was considered a no-go area for tourists because of the numbers of guerrillas fighting the local government. After three weeks of negotiations, peace was declared and the city was been trying to pull in tourists to fuel the economy." As he accepted the small drink that was M's customary complement to any briefing with a 00 agent, his mind had raced. What could possibly be going on down there that would need the attention of a 00 agent? And what was so special about an electrical storm? Bond stopped right there, thinking back over all the assignments he'd been on, and realised that, whenever he was around, it could mean practically anything.

"Very good, 007. One of our satellites was in position to observe the storm in progress. What is concerning is that as the storm abated, something appeared out of thin air and hit the ground. Due to interference, we were unable to tell exactly what it was, but five people left the object before it blew up. They left before the local authorities arrived. Also, our analysts have uncovered a disturbing fact about that city." She paused to sip at her drink. "Over the last few months, there have been large shipments of materials supplied to the city, but none of it is registered with the authorities. Someone is up to something down there." M had faced him over the table. "I want you to go down there, find out what those supplies were for, who is behind the shipments, what their planning, and stop them. I'll leave the details up to you, so you can handle whatever the situation is in your, usual style. Just don't blow up the whole city." Bond had been unable to cover his slight smile. It seemed no matter what he investigated, there were always explosions, and a large amount of property damage and death. Mostly for the bad guys, fortunately.

On his way out, Money Penny had given him a briefing folder with all he information that had been gathered, while he continued their age-old flirting game with each other. Bond had to admit, he did feel something for her, but after the death of his wife, and countless other women he had gotten involved with, he was not going to risk her life. There were enough people after his head already, no need to give them an extra target to attack.

Realising he had reached the outskirts of the city, Bond slowed the car down, and proceeded to look for a suitable hotel were he could leave his stuff while he was checking things out. The briefing folder had been very slim on the actual situation within the city, mostly a collection of circumstantial facts, rumours and educated guesses. He'd have to do this the old fashioned way.

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**DR: **Well all the players are assembled. Now we see how they dance... Don't forget, if you read this, REVIEW! 


	8. SG1,2

**DR: **Well, we're back to SG-1 here, and there is tension within the team (or rather, between a certain two members of said team...)

* * *

O'Neill leaned back in the seat in the small boat that Daniel had managed to hire. Only he, Daniel and Carter were in it, as Teal'c had stayed behind with Dr Frasier to help unpack their gear. Even with three, the small boat felt cramped. Daniel was steering the boat gently around the bay, with the great cliffs marking one side, the beach below the hotels another and the sea the third. The beach was packed with sunbathers, families and relaxing couples. A few other boats were about, some dragging water skiers around, a couple of sightseeing craft showing off the local cliffs and the local marine life, visible though the clear water. O'Neill had to admit it was like paradise here.

As he kicked back and watched the waves, his eyes alighted on Carter. She had laid out flat on the side benches that ran almost the whole length of the boat, her head closest to him, and had removed the saffron skirt from around her waist, leaving her in her bathing suit. Although she appeared to be resting and enjoying the sun, O'Neill knew she was really checking out the cliff line. He was supposed to be doing the same to the shoreline where the waves reached the cliffs, but O'Neill found it hard to look away from the smooth swell of Carters butt.

He had to admit, if only to himself, he felt something for her. And she felt something for him. They both knew about their feeling for each other, but due to their positions, both members of the same team, with O'Neill in command, the world of the US military would have seriously frowned on any kind of relationship that was not professional. Any personal feels they had, well tough luck. The only way for them to be together would be if one of them resigned or transferred, and neither of them wished to do that.

So they carried on, feeling something far more than comradeship for each other, but never having a chance to explore those feelings.

"Colonel, I'm flattered that you'd stare so long at me, but would you mind catching the shoreline for me?" O'Neill looked down quickly to her face as Carter whispered to him. She had dropped the compact binoculars from her eyes, and was looking at him with an ear-to-ear grin. O'Neill flushed red.

"Ah, sorry Major." He whispered back. "I ah, found my thoughts wandering." _'Nice one, idiot!'_ "I was just thinking that maybe I ought to retire here someday." _'Better.'_ "I mean, it's got everything! Sun, sea, sand, clear sky at night…"

"And lots of young women dressed in very little?" Carter teased, still whispering. Neither of them wanted Daniel to know about them. To emphasize her point, Carter couldn't resist rolling onto her side, facing him.

"That too." He replied, flushing an even deeper red as he turned to study the coastline. _'Damm it, Carter! Why'd you have to do that!'_ The sight of his 2IC, stretched out beside him, dressed only in a pale blue skin hugging swimming costume was proving to be quite a turn on! Although it was a full one-piece item rather than a bikini, Carter wore it well, making it just as sexy as many more revealing items would have.

He tried to pull himself together. "Anything to report?" he asked more loudly.

He could still hear her smile in her voice as she spoke up. "The back wall of the estate doesn't quite reach the cliff edge. Can't really tell from this position…" O'Neill flushed red again at the use of the word _position_. "…But it looks like there might be just enough room around there to move about. There are signs that there is a small personal door way in the wall up there. A stairway cut into the rock leads downward. I'm not sure, but I think there might not be the same level of security on this wall as on the others."

"Most likely feel safe, with the ocean to their backs." Daniel muttered up front, not turning around.

"Maybe, but having your back to a wall also means you have no where to run if thing get bad." O'Neill retorted. Sighing, he lowered the camera he was holding. He had been using it to scan the cliff facing, follow the flights of some seabirds so as not to attract attention. "They have a concrete jetty down there. Stairs not only lead up to your door Carter, but there is also a heavy duty loading entrance dug into the cliff. Looks just like home, just without the armed guards, fencing and signs saying 'Property of the US Government'." He looked again, having spotted movement just within the entranceway. "There is a guard post inside though, and given the security up top, I'd be very surprised if it was just one guy." He lowered the camera again, then turned face to Daniel. "Alright Danny take us back to the pier. We've got everything we need."

As Daniel swung the small boat around, O'Neill couldn't help but look over at Carter again. She had rolled back onto her stomach, but was still watching him, a smile on her face.

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**DR: **Longer chapters are coming, but please people, review and tell me what you think! If you don't review, I may never finish this story!


	9. Dino Crisis,2

**DR: **And now we're back in 'Dino Crisis' town, where we learn a bit about Regina's past (or at least my version), and a bit more about what's going on...

* * *

Dylan soon parked the hire car round the back of the cheap hotel where they were staying. Regina, with Gail's silent support, had managed to get them a room at the back of the building, on the first floor. With only featureless warehouses facing them, they could easily slip out the window and be away without anyone knowing.

As they walked into the hotel foyer, both Regina and Dylan chatted about the views around the city. The ploy worked, and the hotel manager didn't bat an eyelid as they walked past and mounted the stairs. They continued their idle banter until they reached their room, where a certain young woman interrupted them by leaping up onto Dylan to give him a bear hug.

"Poppa! Your back!"

Dylan smiled awkwardly at Regina as he tried to release the chokehold Paula had on him. Regina just smirked, the best way to cover both her embarrassment, and her envy. Regina had never known her father, and when her mother had died when she was young, Regina had lost all contact with her family. Her mother's family had seen her as a 'bastard' child, and had cast her mother out of their home in Hong Kong. Regina had been raised in the States, were her mother had fled, and then when she had died, the State had become her home. After a run of bad behaviour, SORT, or Secret Operation Raid Team, a subsection of the newly reformed CIA, had picked her up, where her skills of infiltration and sharp wits could be put to use for the greater good.

Except for the occasional mission where she had felt used, such as on Iblis Island, Regina was generally happy with her life. But a part of her yearned to have a 'normal' family of her own, something that was frowned on by the Agency. So seeing Dylan with his newly found, and fully grown, daughter was causing Regina to feel a whirlwind of emotion that she hadn't felt in a long time.

Shunting those thoughts aside, she strode into the second room where Rick had set up his gear.

"So, find anything?"

"Yeah, plenty." Replied the young, raven-haired African-American male sitting at his laptop. Rick had been one of the first people young Regina had worked with, and more often that not he was on the same team. His computer skills were almost unmatched, as was his loyalty to his teammates. This had caused friction between him and Gail, since Gail was always focused on the mission, and was quite willing to use others like chess pieces. Rick however would never leave a friend behind, even if it put the whole mission in jeopardy. Rick was one of the few true friends Regina had within the agency.

"These people don't know enough about computer security. I had better challenges in school." Rick looked over his shoulder, and gave her the once over. "Nice outfit. Very becoming." He grinned.

"Cool it, tough guy." Regina snapped back, but a slight smile took the sting out of her words. She focused on the screens in front of Rick. "What have you got then?"

Rick turned back to the screen as Gail, Dylan and Paula stepped in. "Well, the estate is owned privately, by a man called Ra'kesh. He has stated that he is head of a religious movement, and that the estate is their place of worship. He and some of his devotees' exposé a view that there are ways for a person to ascend to godhood if they are willing to sacrifice themselves to their gods, of which there are many out there. He claims that the people of Earth once long ago renounced those gods and have since falling into deceit, decay, yadda yadda yar…" Rick waved one black-hand vaguely. "He claims that only these gods can restored humanity back to the grand heights it once ascended to, and that he has been sent to prepare the way. The cult preaches a lot of anti-government and anti-technology rhetoric, urging people to abandon the 'impure ways' and to seek the 'truth' by finding their place in the world by hard, manual work." Rick paused to let that all sink in, then continued.

"Up till now he and his followers have been considered just an oddity, like so many other small groups. However there are things that don't fit. This cult has been growing in power for a while, and is beginning to change from preaching to acting. Several shops sell western goods have been burned down, and several potential investors in the town have been scared off. Nothing leads back to the cult, but the local police suspect them." Rick brought up another screen showing a newspaper heading detailing a death.

"Three days ago the body of a local fisherman was found a few miles down the coast. What is significant is that the same fisherman had stated to the police that he had seen ships come into the bay at night, just under the cliffs behind the estate. He said he had proof, but he never showed.

"There are rumours about the people within the estate, particularly Ra'kesh. The main ones are that he is capable of seeing into peoples souls, that the members will die for him, and that Ra'kesh can kill without need of a weapon. There have been no witnesses outside of the cult, if there are any, so no one can back this up. Also any who enter the estate either return changed, or not at all." Regina and Gail exchanged looks, picking up on the double meaning of that sentence.

"Also the Police are getting really worried about the firepower this cult has, if their records are anything to go on." Rick ploughed on. "Considering what you two saw, that's not surprising." Rick quickly flicked though some other screens. "Erm, there are mentions of minor tremors happening quite often a few months ago, sometimes twice a night. That all stopped a while back. More recently there have been outbreaks of power surges and blackouts throughout the city, and they've been getting more common."

All of them chewed on that for a while, each mulling over the implications.

* * *

**DR: **The plot thickens... More BtVS next time, where Willows gets a shock...

PS: **DR: **Oh one more thing. People, PLEASE review!


	10. Gathering,2

**DR: **Since these next few parts are kinda sort, I've put them all in one chapter. Enjoy!

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_

_'Now this is why we came'_ Willow thought, as she lazed in the sun, stretched out face down on a towel, soaking up the sun. _'Lazing in the sun, without a care in the world…' _

From her position Willow was able to look along most of the length of the beach. She watched the swarm of people frolicking in the surf, playing games or like her stretched out enjoying the clear blue sky and warm sun. The sound of children laughing was music to her ears, which for so long had only really heard the terrible sounds of evil.

Turning her head, Willow was able to see Buffy alongside her. Buffy too was lying on a towel, but was instead face up. As she had predicted, Buffy's old bathing suit had been far too small, even for her skinny frame. So they had brought her a new one. Buffy had finally settled on a modest black bikini, the most decent of those for sale. It made, along with her sunglasses, a stark contrast to her pale skin. Too pale, really. Buffy's role as a vampire slayer meant that she spent most of her time out at night, and rarely got a chance to get a proper tan.

Black was quite appropriate, considering her thoughts lately. Willow had tried to persuade her not to go for a black outfit, but she had to agree, anything else would have been far to revelling for her tastes. Still, since that brief point up in the hotel, Buffy hadn't yet slipped into one of her dark moods. And for that Willow was grateful, as she turned her head again to look out to sea, and watched the progress of a small boat head towards the small tourist pier, with two men and a blond woman wearing a blue one-piece bathing suit on it.

Suddenly Willow felt a chill run though her, completely at odds with the environment. _'Whoa, where did that come from?'_ Quickly Willow raised her internal 'Wichen perceptions' as she called them. She had dropped them during the flight, when they kept going off. After she had checked each source, she had realised that her senses were now so acute that they picked up things that in no way were paranormal. To avoid any panics, and to allow Buffy to fully relax, she had damped down. But to set off the 'passive set'…

Quickly she swept all around her. Aside from the normal variations caused by normal people, she sensed over a dozen spikes within the city, half of which were… odd. She couldn't put her finger on why. Also she felt three signals, much closer. Letting her eyes follow her senses, she was surprised to find herself staring at the same small boat, now tied up at the pier. No, it was the people who were stepping off…

"What's wrong, Will?" Willow started at Buffy's voice. Only now did she realise that she had sat up. Buff had raised her glasses to look at her.

"I don't know… something." Was Willows non-committal reply, never taking her eyes off the three adults walking along the pier towards the shore.

Buffy followed her friends' line of sight. "About those three? Trouble?"

"No." Willow shook her head. "They're normal, mortal, though one…" She was truly puzzled. She had never felt anything like this before. The closest would have to be something like a remnant of demonic possession, but without the inherent evil intent, like she sometimes picked up from Zander.

"What ever it is," she began. "I get the oddest feeling we'll be see them again, soon." As the trio she had been following passed in front of the nearby cliff, Willow gasped. Her whole body felt cold, as if in a blizzard.

Buffy was at her side in an instant. "What is it, what's wrong?" Willows new powers were a complete mystery to Buffy, and to be honest, made Buffy feel that bit jealous, and afraid. But till now, they had always been helpful, and under control.

"I missed something…" Willows voice was a whisper. "I didn't pick it up at first, but…" She slowly raised a hand to point shaking finger at the cliff, and the estate that was visible above. "There, within the cliff. There's a… a great evil in there. Lurking, planning… something terrible. And … I can feel…" She gasped again, struck by the raw emotion she had touched. "Pain. Great, terrible excruciating pain. The pain of a living, intelligent being…" Willows eyes rolled up into her head and she collapsed.

" Willow!" Buffy cried out, before she quickly scooped up her friend, towel and all, before rushing her off the beach.

x x x x x x

Indy and Lara continued to chat about many topics, till Indy looked up and spotted him walk in. "He's here. I best go meet him."

Lara turned her head round to see. There was Doctor Alan Grant, just like he had been depicted in all the newspaper articles and magazines. Weather beaten, almost dusty, his dark fandora-style hat and pale blue shirt stood out from the rest of the crowd like a fire on a dark hillside.

Indy quickly walked over and held out his hand. "Dr Grant? Hi, I'm Dr Jones, archaeologist."

"Alan Grant, palaeontologist." Grant shook Indy's hand warmly, a slight smile on his face.

"Thank you for taking the time to meet me. I know how important your work is."

"No, I should be the one thanking you, though I have to admit I curious. We don't get many archaeologists wishing to transfer over." Grant nodded towards the chairs. "Can we sit down? I've been at my dig all morning, and unfortunately my budget didn't reach to cover comfortable transport."

"Of course." Indy led Grant over to where he had been sitting with Lara. Grant gave Lara the once over.

"This your daughter, Dr Jones?" He asked.

Lara and Indy both smiled amusingly at each other. "No, she's only a friend. Dr Grant, may I introduce Lady Croft."

Alan Grant was halfway though sitting down when Indy dropped that bombshell. He looked up again, his jaw slightly open.

"Croft? As in Lord Croft?"

"Yes, he was my father. The name's Lara."

Grant's eyes were round. "The Lara Croft that's been know to the papers as the 'Tomb Raider'?"

Lara just smiled happily. "Good to see that you keep up with the papers, despite your digging."

"I've found that it's prudent to keep an eye one things." Grant replied, finally sitting down. As he removed his hat, Lara took in his face. Under all the dirt and dust, there was a ruggedly handsome face, with clear, wise eyes. His brown hair was blenched by the sun, and the crows feet at the corners of his eyes were indicative of a life spent outdoors.

"So, Dr Jones, I'd like to know why you've decided to switch disciplines. Dr Clarkson already mentioned that you had been out of the loop for a few years, and that you felt that getting back in would not be worth it. May I ask why?"

Indy sat back, figuring out how explain. "Well, I had always been a little 'controversial', at least according to some of my colleagues. After a theory of mine was disproved, I kind of took it hard. Things were also a little rough in my personal life, so I took some time out to sort it out. Only now I've been left behind by all the recent advances in the field, and I'm feeling a bit like a fish out of water. Also my name is a little tarnished in the profession, so I thought a change would be as good as a break." He looked over at Lara, a wry grin crossing his face. "Besides, Lara seems to have taken the position I used to fill, and I would never think about displacing the daughter of a Lord."

"Okay, that's good enough." Was Alan's response, but on the inside Alan was thinking hard. Although he specialised in palaeontology, he kept an eye on the other disciplines, and he couldn't remember hearing anything that fitted with Dr Jones's story. In fact, the last crazy thing he'd heard about was Dr Daniel Jackson's weird ideas about the great pyramids. Jackson had not been heard from since, which did have Alan worried.

"Dr Clarkson also said that you have experience with kids…"

"Yes. I used to teach at collage when I wasn't out on digs." Indy explained.

"So you know how to relate to kids then?"

"Well, I mostly dealt with mid to late teens, really, but then isn't that what you mainly have?"

"That's about right." Alan Grant was now becoming more confused. Someone like this should never have been let go. Also he could not think of any person that fitted. This Dr Jones, collage professor and archaeologist… Sudden a thought struck him.

_'No, it couldn't be. He'd be over eighty, and this guys no more than my age.'_

And yet, the face fitted the descriptions he had heard, and the way 'Dr Jones' spoke, was like some of the old war movies…

_'Could it be him?'_

Alan Grant looked Indy in the eye. "Who are you? Really?"

Indy sighed, glanced down, then back up. "My father officially called me Junior, after him. But I made a name for myself as Indiana."

For the second time that afternoon, Dr Alan Grant felt his jaw drop. " Indiana Jones!"

Lara couldn't help but laugh. "Believe me Doctor, I was as surprised as you are when I first met him."

Grant struggled to find his voice. "H… How?"

"It's… a long story" Indy replied. "One I'd rather not go into right now." He took a swig from his drink, more to cover the lump in his throat than anything else. "So, will you take me on? As a colleague?"

"Of course! I need all the experienced people I can get." Grant chuckled. "Though you have to understand, it's going to be nothing like your past exploits."

"That's the point Dr Grant, that's the whole point."

x x x x x x

007 leaned back in his chair, rubbing his tired eyes before taking a sip from his vodka-martini. Glancing at his watch, he saw that he had been staring at his notes for several hours.

_'Christ, where'd the time go?' _

After checking into his hotel room, Bond had wandered the streets, poking around, looking for anything that could give him a clue about what was going on here. It hadn't been hard to locate an obvious suspect. He'd seen several preachers of the new cult that lived within a walled estate on the coast.

He'd managed to get a look at the cliff face below the estate, but getting a look inside would be difficult. The high walls and solid gate were no obstacle, but Bond had spotted the guard tower within the trees. He suspected that there would be more.

Bond was also concerned about what the 'preachers' had been putting forth. True they weren't getting any real attention, but he'd seen the looks the local people threw the guards each preacher had. A quick review of back issues of the local papers had thrown up a number of troubling questions. Following his nose, like so many times before, Bond knew that the local police were afraid of the cult, which though strong arm tactics was gaining power every day, while each day there was a small trickle of new 'Followers' going in, but fewer coming out.

Getting up to stretch his legs, Bond watched as the sun began to sink down towards the horizon. He knew that he'd get no more answers here, or anywhere else in the city. All the answers were in that estate. Tonight, Bond intended to find them.

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**DR: **Well, that's it for now. People, please review, or I might not finish this! 


	11. SG1,3

**DR: **Well, we're back with SG1, a they prepare to swing into action...

* * *

Janet Frasier angrily stuffed her civilian clothing into the depths of her carry pack. "Good riddance." She muttered under her breath.

Sam Carter smiled at her friends' choice of words as she finished pulling on her black tee shirt. Both women, friends since they had meet at the SGC, were more than pleased to get back into uniform. O'Neill had decided it was time to go in, so the whole team had began to prepare.

Janet would never admit it to anyone, but as she pulled on her slate-grey urban warfare jacket, she felt a little trill of excitement run along her spine. Oh, being the head doctor at the SGC was a great post, one of the best Janet had ever had, but she still felt, at times, that she was not doing enough. Frasier had always wanted to serve her country, but she also had a deep desire to heal. These two urges tended to conflict.

As she looked over at her friend Major Carter, Janet reflected on the many times Sam, indeed all the members of the SGC, had their lives in her hands. That feeling of having saved a life was one that really drove Janet Frasier. But, the losses of good people ate at her. It was Janet's belief that if trained medical personal were made an integral part of all SG teams, fewer lives would be lost. Several times wounded would come though the gate, but she had been unable to save them. Now if she had gotten to them sooner…

Janet shook her head ruefully. She had gone to general Hammond several times with this, and each time he had, in the nicest possible way, explained that fully trained medical personal were just too valuable - that she was too valuable. Besides, her expertise was needed at the base, not tied up with one SG team, even if they were the flagship team SG-1.

Quickly locking up her cases, Janet stepped into the main room. Around the small table Colonel Jack O'Neill, Dr Jackson and Teal'c stood, looking down at a printout of the only publicly available layout of the estate. She saw that the map had several notes added, no doubt things that the two recons had spotted. The large bed was covered in cases, clothes and weapons, the standard SG mix of cutting edge earth technology, standard US equipment and Goa'uld weaponry. None of the men were wearing their combat vests, since it would be uncomfortably hot to do so just yet. Once the sun was down the heat of the day would fade.

Jack looked up as the bathroom door closed. Sam stepped up by Janet, pulling on her peaked cap as she did so. Nodding to her, he launched into his operation plan.

"Okay, we'll go round the back, see if there's any other way in. If so, then we scope out security at the back of the estate. If it's light, we use the back door to enter the main building. Teal'c, if, by any chance, there is a snakehead here, where would he, or she, be?"

"It is most likely that the largest chamber would be used as the Goa'ulds place of power. However it is common that such a chamber would be underground for protection."

"It is most likely that anything of value would be underground sir." Carter put in. "I mean we all saw that loading dock. That implies that there has to be a significant complex down there."

"So… our Goa'uld could be anywhere?"

"Indeed." Was Teal'c's stoic reply.

"Okay, so we see if we can enter via the main structure. If not, we go down the cliff and go in via the tunnel." O'Neill quickly folded up the printout. "Once we're in, we blow anything we need to, and kill that slimy snakehead. Keep your zats covered till we're inside. Teal'c, stow the staff." Teal'c nodded slowly.

Quickly the whole team set to work. Janet knew her role on this mission: she was along in case of any condition arising which might need her expertise, though it was also partly Hammond relenting to her pressure to allow her to get off base on an assignment. She was also to take care of their excess baggage. As SG-1 geared up, she quickly tidied up their discarded 'civies' and prepped her medical gear, plus the small amount of combat gear she was required to handle. As she did so, she had time to watch SG-1 sort out their own weapons.

Quickly she noticed the subtle, and not so subtle, differences between each person. O'Neill had started with his P90 completely disassembled, yet within a few minutes he had it reassembled and ready for use. His motions were cool, calm and professional. Nothing was left to chance; every little piece or object was checked, accounted for and stowed within his vest efficiently.

Carter too had her gear sorted quickly, though not as quick as the colonel. Her P90 had still been in one piece, so she only had to insert a fresh ammo clip in. She took more care over her computer gear, stowing each piece gently within her backpack. Since they were still not sure about what would be found within, it had been decided that they would go in prepared for anything. Carters range of Goa'uld interface programs contained on her laptop would enable her to interface with almost any terminal. Both her and Colonel O'Neill carried a P90 clipped to their vests, a 9mm pistol and a Zat in thigh holsters. Daniel in contrast seemed unable to do anything in a professional manner. He kept on rearranging his compact notebooks, and it took him almost twice as long to sort out his 9mm than O'Neill had.

Janet had just finished prepping her own 9mm when she spotted Teal'c studying an unfolded piece of paper while holding his staff weapon. It had passed though customs disguised as an old Massy Mara hunting spear, but how could he get a staff weapon longer than he was tall around without being seen? Suddenly Teal'c began to twist and pull at the end, and a short section came off. As he continued, Janet noticed that both Sam and Daniel were also watching him.

"Wow, I never knew a staff weapon could come apart like that." Commented Sam, with that note of interest that only she could produce.

"They do not." Teal'c replied without looking up, his voice clearly stating that this was fact. "However this one has been modified to do so."

"How?"

"I am unsure. One of the members of weapons development brought it and these instructions to General Hammond before we left."

Carter looked at O'Neill confusingly. "Colonel?"

"Some bright spark from England, has a keen interest in Goa'uld weapons."

"You sure he can be trusted?" Daniel put in worriedly. "Considering that the NID…"

" Hammond recruited this guy himself. We can trust him."

Sam nodded, some of her concern nullified.

Teal'c undid the last connection and placed all the parts within his backpack. Once done he quickly loaded the SPAS-12 shotgun he preferred as his 'Earth' weapon of choice. He too carried a zat and 9mm as backup. Quickly they each did up their jackets, slipped into their vests and shouldered their backpacks. O'Neill had dropped his trademark baseball cap for the standard peaked cap like Carters, Daniel wore a broad brimmed hat and Teal'c a woollen balaclava, in order to hide the symbol of Apophis on his forehead.

O'Neill quickly assessed their situation. His team were ready, with only the five standard USAF metal cases lying on the bed. In these they had packed all the civilian clothing, spare food, ammo and equipment. These would be dumped in their hired transport before they entered the estate. Dr Frasier would carry her medical cases in with them, one via a shoulder strap, and the larger one within her backpack.

"Alright, lets go."

* * *

**DR:**That's it for now. Next time we catch up with Regina and the gang, and we find out just why Willow fainted... Stay tuned! 


	12. Dino Crisis & BtVS,3

**DR: **Well, It's that time again... lets see how some of the others are getting ready...

* * *

Elsewhere in the city, another team was prepping for an operation, with the same target. Paula sat on the couch, watching the adult's sort out their weapons. Although her speech was not yet fully back, she understood everything they said. Despite her past record of survival, no one trusted her with a weapon, most especially Regina. Well, her father might have, but he had to bow to the others. She could understand why, but it still hurt.

It was not like they were short on weapons. Gail, the oldest of them all, was checking out the MP5 that was his weapon of choice, despite its age, back in 'their' time. In this time it would still be top rate. She knew that he intended to carry a handgun and a compact grenade gun too. Paula wasn't completely sure about Gail, he seemed too 'cold', too distant to her. When he looked at her, she had the distinct feeling that he was assessing her, and that she did not measure up to his standards. And as far as he was concerned, the only ones that mattered.

Now Rick was the complete opposite. The raven-haired, black skinned man was warm and charming. It was clear to Paula, who had spent considerable time learning to read body language, that Rick would never willing leave a man behind. But despite this, he was not quite ready to trust his life to her, not yet.

Then there was Regina. Paula knew that her feelings towards her were ambivalent. Of them all, Regina was still a mystery. At one point she was cold and hard, and then in an instant she was warm and caring. Paula never knew how to tread around her. And to be completely honest, Paula was also jealous. She had to admit, Regina was stunningly beautiful. With her pale skin, delicate mix of racial feature, slim almost feline figure, and shockingly red hair, Regina was up there with the modern supermodels.

Paula was also peeved with Regina for hoarding weapons. She was carrying enough for the whole team. In front of her on the table were two snub-nosed MP5s, a glock pistol and hi-energy stun prod. Regina was also cleaning out her massive SAW, the size of it making her seem like a child. Paula was struggling to understand how Regina could use such a massive weapon.

"Hey, you alright?"

Dylan's voice startled Paula. She looked over at him, where he had been loading shells into his favoured shotgun. His massive anti-tank rifle was leaning against the table besides him.

"Okay Poppa. Really."

Dylan smiled warmly as he slid the last shell home. Quickly priming the weapon, he set it down before he stood up and stepped over to her. "Sure, but are you okay?"

Paula was confused. Didn't she just say that she was?

"Come on, what's troubling you?"

"It's just, why does auntie Regi get to have so many guns?" She sighed, partly in frustration.

"That's her style dear." Dylan said gently, patting her shoulder. "She's an expert in weapons and a crack shot. Also she has always been in situations where she could only rely on herself. So she's got into the habit of carrying anything she may need." Dylan looked over at Regina as she feed the belt of bullets into the SAW's breach, her small delicate hands seeming almost too small for the task.

"Besides, you've only used those disk thrower things. You need to practice before you can use our weapons properly."

"I guess…"

"Don't worry. We'll be home soon, and then we won't need to shoot anything any more."

Dylan stepped back to the table as Regina was engaged in the complex process of getting into her body armour. As he did so Paula muttered under her breath so he wouldn't hear.

"If we even get home, where or when ever that is…"

x x x x x x

Buffy was getting frantic, though she would never admit it. Willow was still not coming around. Unable to do anything to help her closest friend, Buffy paced back and forth in the main room of their suite, burning off excess energy.

"Oh the hell with it!" she snapped. Stepping into the bathroom, she quickly filled a bowl full of water. Carrying it gently out to the balcony, she turned to the still form of Willow in one of the chairs.

"Will, if you don't wake up within the next ten seconds, so help me I'll give you a full facial." When Willow failed to wake, Buffy continued "No? Well, here goes…" And she flung the contents of the bowl right into Willows face.

"H-Hey!" Willow spluttered, utterly drenched.

"Well, that woke you up."

Willow glared at Buffy, and was about to lash out with a verbal reprimand, but then recent events came pouring back. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself.

"Hey, don't you faint on me again!" cried out Buffy, quickly dropping the bowl and dropping to her friends side. Buffy was really concerned about Willow now. _'What ever she had touched must have been pretty powerful…' _

"Buffy, we…" Willow swallowed. "We have to get out of here. Something… terrible is about to happen."

"Will, something terrible almost happens everyday back home. The only reason it doesn't is that I'm there stopping it. Now, whatever you think will happen, it's not going to ruin my first holiday in…" Buffy paused, as she suddenly realised that she had never _had _a holiday before.

"N-No Buffy! You don't understand! This nothing like back home! There's nothing supernatural about this!" _'Not really'_ Willow pushed that thought to one side and pressed on. "Buffy, when I reached out, I felt something, a mind more powerful than anything I've felt before… and far more evil. I caught a… glimpse of what it has seen, and what it plans for this city!" Willow choked back tears, the horrors she'd seen coming back fresh in her mind.

"And what is this…Person planning then?" Buffy demanded, growing impatient.

"Death. The death of every person here…"

"Oh. What is it with big evil people that they have to kill everyone around?"

"Buffy!" Willow was becoming quite annoyed with Buffy for not listening to her. "That… thing… is not human. And its plan is to test an _army_ of… beasts, on the people here. Their not going to be human, or vampire, or anything else we have encountered. I felt… the mind of one of them. Their being controlled, but they are natural killers! They'd tear right though the folk here without breaking a sweat! And the… things controlling them…are boosting their killer skills even higher! Could you really stop a whole _army_ of living killing machines?"

Buffy was about to argue back, but she hesitated. While she had fought deadly beasts from the depths of hell before, they all had an inherent weakness that she knew about and could use. Plus she never had to fight more than a couple at a time. The most she'd ever fought was six or seven, and that had been a close one. She knew she was good, but she really only knew how to fight one on one. Taking on a whole army of creatures that she knew nothing about, all of which were deadly fighters before being augmented…

Buffy looked down, before raising her eyes to meet Willows. "Alright. Much as I hate to do so, we'll leave. But if someone is in trouble, don't expect me to leave them."

Willow smiled "I wouldn't have it any other way."

With the tension eased, they embraced each other, reaffirming their friendship.

"Right, lets get packing."

* * *

**DR: **More to come next week.Stay tuned! 


	13. JP & TR, 3

**DR: **And for today, the professor and the Raider meet the (slightly crazy) mathamatican, and... well, you'll see.

* * *

Dr Grant led the way into the restaurant. Having been living nearby for the past several weeks, he had quickly learned which were the good places to eat out. After he and the 'Tomb Raider's' had been swapping stories for what seemed like hours, He had realised that he was starving. On his suggestion, they had all decided to eat out together, and invited Malcolm and Sarah along too. Alan was quietly confident that he had found Malcolm's mental match in Indy. He had been, after all, a collage professor. When he hadn't been out chasing rare artefacts.

In a country were the standard of clothing was pale, loose and minimal, Ian Malcolm stood out like a day glow green dinosaur. Did he ever wear anything other than black? He and Sarah Harding were sitting together at one of the corner table near the back of the place, and even from across the room Alan could see that they were still preoccupied by the startling revelations he had suggested earlier that day.

"Malcolm, Sarah, glad you could make it."

Sarah Harding looked up, a slightly smile playing across her lips. "After what you told us earlier, it's not like we're going away soon. Besides, you mentioned something about extra guests?" she eyed Indy and Lara standing behind Alan.

"Well, yes I did." Alan smiled awkwardly, as both Lara then Indy slipped into the booth opposite Ian and Sarah. "I think I've meet someone who could really give you a run for your money Ian.'

Ian Malcolm finally looked up at that, one of his classic grins across his face. "Really, Alan?"

"Oh yes. May I introduce Miss Lady Croft…"

"Delighted" Lara cooed, offering her hand to Sarah Harding. Lara struggled to keep the smile off her face as Sarah noticeably blushed.

"Lady Lara Croft? The 'Tomb Raider'?"

"The one and the same. Course," Lara looked at Indy besides her "…I wasn't the first to earn that title."

Ian was rapidly becoming baffled. He didn't like being baffled. "And you are?" He asked Indy, offering his hand as he did so.

"Dr Jones." Answered as he shook the proffered hand. "Also known as Indiana Jones, though my friends call me Indy."

Alan smirked and Lara burst out laughing as both Ian's and Sarah's jaws dropped noticeably.

" Indiana Jones?" Ian managed to gasp out. "How? I mean you should be…"

"Ninety odd years old now?" Indy shook his head. "I'm afraid that that's a long story. Suffice it to say I had a fifty year 'time-out' from time." Indy quickly shook off the sad look that crossed his face, though the others round the table caught it. "I hear that you both are gaining quite the reputation yourselves, within your own circles."

Lara, knowing the truth behind that sad look, recognised the change of subject for what it was. She decided to give Indy a hand. She turned to face Ian Malcolm. "Yes, would you mind explaining to me this 'Chaos Theory' thing? It seems every time I try to get an answer online, they change the definitions." Both Indy and Sarah chuckled, but Alan groaned and held his head in his hands.

"You had to ask…" he mumbled.

Malcolm, not hearing or ignoring Alan, plunged in. "Well, Chaos Theory is about the study of non-linear equations and unpredictability. It's based on the idea that in every single event in life, there is a set of laws and rules that govern it. It attempts to explain things that traditional science can't. Weather patterns, water ripples, stock markets, human behaviour, all these things conventional science just can't handle. By looking at maths in all its forms, rather than only those that our poor brains can wrap themselves around, we are trying to explain the as of yet unexplained."

Indy looked amused. "But what if the basis for your argument is completely wrong? What if there is no overall law that controls everything?"

Ian looked hurt. "There has to be, otherwise the whole foundation of science breaks down."

"Really." Alan caught a wink that Lara gave Indy. "I've seen things that could never be explained by science, yet they were real, lethally so." She gave a slight shudder. "Besides, if mankind managed to explain everything, what would be the point of living? It would be so dull."

"Yes, if there is no hint of mystery, no sense of the unexplained, then what are we doing?" Indy swept his hand wide. "It's the age old question: Why are we here?"

"I'm not even going to attempt to answer that one…yet" Ian replied, prompting chuckles from the whole group.

Alan sat back, pleased to see Ian brought low by his new friends. As the tales began to pass back and forth, he heard a distinct engine note. Looking out the front, though the glass walls, Alan watched in interest as an Aston Martin roared past. Its modern lines and gleaming silver finish looked badly out of place next to the mass of dirty yellow or dull red local vehicles, many of then years old and dilapidated. He watched as it rounded a corner, then he frowned. Standing at that corner were a pair of the local cults preachers, both of whom had been giving the Aston some very nasty looks.

_'That guy had better get out soon'_ He thought_ 'because I doubt that they'll take kindly to something like that moving around…'_

Alan had been aware of the Cult, but so far had been able to avoid contact with them. Since he had stayed out in the wilderness, they didn't bother him or his team. But on the times that he had run into town for extra supplies, he had felt their eyes on him. Alan just knew that the cult was opposed to him and everything he stood for, but it seemed that they had decided that he was not a threat. Yet.

* * *

**DR: **Fraid that's it for today. Please review people! I want to know what you think! 


	14. 007,3

**DR: **Well, here's the next part, where we get a peek inside the mansion...

* * *

007 gently eased the powerful Aston Martin down one of the many back alleys that riddled the city. With the sun setting quickly he knew that it was time to go to work.

He had worked his way across the town, constantly checking for pursuit. Bond knew that the Aston stood out from the rest of the traffic, but that could be used to aid him. Since the cult members would be looking for a big silver Aston, they would miss him completely.

Turning into another alley, Bond could see part of the wall that surrounded the estate that was the centre of the cult's activity. Despite the heavy security on display, Bond knew that he would get in. He had been dodging that kind of set up for most of his adult life.

Slowing to a crawl, he watched as two cult members walked along the wall, clearly on patrol.

"Now you see me," he muttered as he punched in commands into the Astons control panel. "…Now you don't."

As he entered the last command the tiny cameras, hidden within the bodywork, activated. They sent the images they captured to the projectors in the opposite panels, and the advanced computer system buried deep within the car sorted the images out into the correct pattern. From the outside, the Aston flickered in a series of rectangular patches over the entire car, and then vanished. Those with keen eyes might have picked out a moving distortion, particularly around the wheels, which were the hardest to hide. But in the dim light provided by a setting sun, the Aston was completely invisible.

Bond slowly moved out into the quiet back street. There was never much traffic around the estate: no one went near the place without a pretty good reason. He kept the speed down, partly to lower any noise getting past the array of sound dampers that kicked in when the stealth system was activated, but also so that the cloak could keep up. When he had received the 'Vanish', it's main designer 'R' had empathically stated that the stealth system could handle only so much speed before it was unable to keep up with all the data that was being fed into it. As such, Bond was forced to remain at a walking pace. He knew he could take it up to a slow jogging pace before the system began to fail, but that was riding the limits. So Bond cruised gently along, looking for the place to make his entrance.

After only two minutes, he had. Pulling over, he set the car to stand-by before stepping out. As he checked his sidearm, Bond glanced back at the Aston. He shook his head. Despite knowing that it was there, he was completely unable to see it. 'R' had out done himself this time.

Bond straightened his tuxedo without thinking as he crossed the road to the compounds corner. His experienced eyes had noticed that while the cameras were sighted along the walls, they couldn't cover directly below themselves. The adjoining camera posts covered these spots, since each post consisted of two cameras, each set in line with the wall. However the west wall was not as long as the eastern one, but the cult had not altered the spacing of the cameras to compensate. This created a gap in the coverage, allowing entry, provided you could climb nine-foot tall stonewalls.

Fortunately for 007, standard MI6 kit included ways to do just that. As he set to work, Bond noticed that the northwestern corner was cut at angle, and the stonework there was a slightly different shade than the rest of the wall. He understood now why there was the gap: the compound had once been square, but part of it had fallen into the sea, hence the new wall.

As he crested the wall, Bond got his first good look within the compound. Suppressing the urge to whistle, he gazed out the lush green growth contained with. A wide range of exotic plants were scattered around, many of which were normally seen in wetter climates. Massive tree ferns mingled with more traditional broad-leaved trees, and Bond noted a few conifers within the mix. The ground cover was thick, consisting mostly of ferns intermingled with patches of fresh looking lawns. A gravel drive snaked it way up from the main gates in the southern wall to the mansion itself.

And what a mansion it was. From his raised position, Bond could see that the building consisted of three main sections. The two side wings were both two stories tall, with a courtyard between them. Together with the main part of the building, which went up an extra story, they formed three sides of a square, with the fourth end closed off by a light wall and wide gates. Where each wing joined a round tower rose, a good six-seven floors high. Lights further back suggested another pair of wings at the back of the mansion, though smaller than the front ones. At each corner of the building small round towers rose, slightly taller than the main section, almost like turrets on medieval castles.

Bond frowned, pulling out his night-vision goggles. In the enhanced glow of the night-sight, he could see that the top floor of each tower was in fact a gun nest, mounting some serious firepower. It looked like three twin 30mm cannon mountings spread around the tower, each currently recessed behind it's own firing slot. The top of each tower, which bond had at first thought to be a simple dome, appeared to be more than they seemed. Bond could make out faint lines on the nearest, parallel lines that ran perpendicular to the ground…

_'Gezz' _Bond thought._ 'This place is more fortified than a __US__ base.'_ With closer examination, the light wall and gate running across the front of the internal courtyard looked more than strong enough to withstand even an assault by a tank. As he lowered the night-sight, Bonds eye caught a flash of red out of the corner of his eye. Quickly raising the sight again, he quickly focused on a man sitting in a lightweight tower within the garden, smoking a cigarette besides a .50 calibre heavy machinegun. Hidden within a cluster of conifer trees, it would have been very hard to spot from the ground… until it was too late.

"Fortress within a fortress." Bond muttered, marking the position of two more clusters of trees. The ground, which at first seemed lush and full of cover, was now a death trap. Those towers could oversee almost every patch of ground, and the ferns that covered it would only come up to a mans waist, providing no cover at all. Anyone wanting to get in without being seen would have to crawl on his or her belly, and the number of patrolling guards made that almost suicide.

Still, at least the sound of the fountain at the centre of the gravel turning circle would mask most low-level noise.

Bond sighed.

It was going to be one of those nights.

x x x x x x

Close to where Bond now crouched, a man strode along panelled corridors, his pale robes billowing around him. He had important news for his lord, and the lord had decreed that all news be delivered to him, in person.

Clark paused just before the last bend, straightening his robes before continuing. _'Why does he want us wearing these silly robes? I'm a scientist for gods sake, not a bloody priest!' _Truth be told he didn't really give a damn about the rhetoric that Ra'kesh gave out: it was all nonsense. Besides, Ra'kesh himself had started the program that Clark and his team had been working on. Or rather, follow the directions giving out by Ra'kesh. Clark hadn't a clue what the snake like creatures were, but Ra'kesh watched over them like they were his children. Although Clark was all for the destruction of the decedent, corrupt system back in his homeland of the good all US of A, He just could not figure out how those butt ugly snakes were involved. Clark felt distinctly uncomfortable around them, as they seemed to radiate evil. He shook his head. Evil did not really exist; it was all a matter of perspective.

As he stepped into the Grand Chamber, Clark couldn't help but think that Ra'kesh was most likely one of the biggest hypocrites around. He denounced the Governments of most of the world as decedent, but the scene before Clark was the height of decadence. Ra'kesh sat – lounged really – on a great throne that sat on a raised dais at the end of the chamber. Surrounding him, at least a half-dozen young, nubile young women sat on cushions. All wore very little, and what little there was must have been designed to showcase their forms. _'Hell, they're wearing more **makeup** than clothing!' _One was lowering a huge bunch of grapes into his mouth; a couple of others were waving huge fans in long, languid fashions. The others seemed to be little more than decoration.

Clark stopped at the first set of columns that lined the hall, the prescribed mark for those wishing to speak with Ra'kesh, and bowed his head as was required. Those who did not wait for his permission to come closer had better have one hell of a reason. Those who did not, never crossed that line again. It was said amongst the others that Ra'kesh kept people waiting, to weed out those who only came to fawn. Those with serious news would wait as long as required.

Clark however had never had to wait long. Although he rarely came up here, he was always granted a quick audience.

"Ah, Dr Clark." Ra'kesh boomed out, using that odd trick to project his voice throughout the hall. As Clark raised his head, he saw that Ra'kesh had straightened up and was looking at him. "Come forward and give me your report."

Clark strode forward before dropping to one knee at the foot of the dais. "My Lord, the last batch is ready." Even with his head bowed, Clark could hear Ra'kesh sitting up straighter. "We have finished conditioning them and they are all reacting to our triggers correctly."

"At last…" Ra'kesh growled. He stood up, before stepping down from the dais. Clark felt him gently place his left hand, wearing that strange, golden gauntlet he always wore on his shoulder. "You have done well, my learned servant." Clark did not really care for being called a _servant,_ but he let it go. Ra'keshes temper was legendary.

"Return to your lab, and have all the batches prepared for transit to the Deep Level." Clark felt thrills of excitement, and fear, race though him. He had never been down to the 'Deep Level' before, but he had heard rumours. Stories of wild animals caged up for experiments, of strange creatures never seen by man before. He had seen vast numbers of livestock herded down there, but were did they go? The tunnels beneath this place could not possibly hold that many animals.

Ra'kesh turned to face back at his throne. "Return to your chambers, I will follow shortly. Once I have overseen the first step of our worldwide revolution!"

* * *

**DR: **Well, that's it for now. Don't forget to review! 


	15. SG1,4

**DR: **Now we return to SG1, who are about to make theri way inside the complex...

* * *

It had taken them the best part of an hour to work their way round to the rear of the compound. Now sheltered besides the rear wall of the closest warehouse, they found an unexpected obstacle.

"Damn, the camera posts go all the way round." O'Neill muttered. "These guy's are really trying to be as unwelcoming as possible."

Charter sighed, leaning out a bit to look over the edge. Round here at the back of a warehouse next to the sea, the locals hadn't bothered to put a fence at the edge. It was barely two feet of crumbly, loose soil and gravel from the corrugated steel wall to empty space. Once over the edge the rock face plunged away steeply, ending in a jumble of massive, jagged boulders at the foot of the cliff. Like most of the surrounding region the rock was primarily sandstone, and was not very strong to begin with. It was good hundred feet almost straight down.

"Uh Colonel, I hate to say this but I'm really not looking forward to climbing down that cliff face."

"Relax Charter." O'Neill muttered around his viewfinder. "This section is poorly lit, and the cameras are looking at the top of the wall."

"So?" put in Daniel.

O'Neill sighed in frustration. "So, they're not set-up to see what's happening at the base of the wall. We'll creep along the base, staying nice and low. They'll never see us." He pocketed his viewfinder and grasped his P90 firmly. "Come on."

It took them another half-hour to move along the wall, hugging the deep shadow at the base. O'Neill slowed up as he closed in on the gateway. Unlike the rest of this wall, the gateway had a powerful light overhead, bathing the area before it in bright light.

Holding up his hand, O'Neill slowly drew out a fibre optic periscope. Extending the end till it poked around the edge of the gateway, O'Neill peered though. Gently twisting the end, he quickly checkout the area within. After several minutes, he withdrew the scope. He turned back to his team.

"Well, good news, we won't have to go into the compound itself blind. Bad news, there's two armed guards in there with a clear view of our gate, heavily armed." He shrugged. "Guess we climb."

"Hold on Colonel." Janet interrupted. "Can't you get them to step outside? Make some kind of noise that'll draw them out?"

"Sure, only they are going to report hearing something, and if they don't report back after checking it out…" O'Neill left the rest unsaid.

"Oh."

"Jack, this may not be important, but…"

"Danny, keep your voice down!"

"Sorry." Daniel dropped to a whisper. "But I think I've found the power lines for that light."

Jack stepped back and looked at where Daniel indicated. A sly grin slowly spread across his face.

"Nice work there, Danny. All right, here's what we do…"

x x x x x x

"Man, why are we even here?"

"'Cause our Lord said be here."

The first guard at the rear gate shrugged. "Man, why bother? He's got the whole town spooked. Nobody in their right mind would attempt to break in."

"I agree, but what about those insane enough to attempt to do so?"

"Suppose so…"

Suddenly the light over the gate flickered out.

"Drat, not again!"

"Grab your torch, I'll report it."

"Sure man, whatever."

Quickly flicking the torch on, the first stepped out of the guardroom and approached the gate. Inside, the second picked up a phone.

"Control, rear guard post here. The damn back lights gone again."

"Copy that." Came back the static laced voice. "Possibly the bulbs gone, or the circuit breakers failed again. We've been having power fluctuations all across the board for the last week. Guess you'll have to use those braziers that he had placed there, eh?"

"Screw you, man."

Laughter came over the line before it went dead. The guard angrily slammed the receiver down.

"Didn't help?" The first asked as the second stepped out.

"Not in the least. Come on, let's hope that it's just the bloodily bulb…"

Holding the torch up to the keypad, the first guard quickly punched in the code to open the gate. Once completed, the restraining bars snapped back, and both guards pushed the gate open. Once outside the wall, they both looked up at the dead light.

"Hmm, give me leg up, will you?"

As the guard bent down to do so, he caught a glint of light out of the corner of his eye. Turning his head, he made out the form of a crouched person just besides the gateway. Pointing one of those funny weapon things at him…

"Hey, who are…"

He never got to finish his sentence.

A spear of pale blue lighting lashed out of the top most part of the thing, the discharge sending trails of electricity running all over him. His senses exploded and all his nerves fired at once. Unable to coordinate his body within the sea of pain he felt, the guard could only watch as the ground came up towards him. Faintly he heard a second discharge.

_'Well, guess there are some people insane enough to attempt breaking in…'_ Then his head hit the ground, and darkness engulfed him.

x x x x x x

O'Neill shut down the Zat, looking over his handiwork. "All right, lets go."

SG-1 quickly moved though the gate and into the Guardroom, dragging in the two unconscious guards as they did so. Charter went straight to the computer installed within, while Teal'c & Jack set to work trying the guards to their chairs.

"Sir?"

Jack looked up at Charters call. "What is it major?"

"This terminal appears to be only able to access non-important information. However…" Charter quickly hit a series of keys. On the screen a three dimensional blueprint appeared. "It does have a full layout of the complex."

"Cool." Jack squinted, looking for details. It certainly was more than cool. The Complex was massive, taking up most of the interior of the bluff that the mansion sat on. Beneath the ground were two levels, both a network of corridors and small rooms. They kind of looked something like the plans for the living quarters back home. After that were two more levels, each about fifty percent deeper. These had fewer corridors and larger chambers. The last level, at the bottom, was the largest. Level with the dock they'd seen at the base of the cliff, this one had massive though passages and vast chambers spreading out underneath most of the city. O'Neill noted that there appeared to be passages running from a central chamber out to a number of shacks that faced the tourist beach, and a single, large passage running to what looked like an giant elevator that ran straight up into the warehouse that they had started out behind. "Any clue as to which room is the one we what?"

Charter shook her head. "No sir. There's no labels or anything. Just level and corridor codes, as well as all the access routes and vents. Guess they decided that security guards would only need to know the ways around the place, and didn't need to know what was going on within the place their guarding." She tapped one finger on the screen. "The only labels are for areas that the guards are not go into, and here, 'Security Control, Sub-Level 3'. Oh, one more thing." Charter tapped up near the top of the display. "We have a lift running from this post down to sub-level 3."

Jack looked blankly at her. "So…?"

"So, we won't need to slip in though the estate itself, and work our way down. We can just go straight to the central computer and get our answers there." Sam replied. She had to admit, she did like it when O'Neill played dumb. The face he pulled when he did so, it was almost… cute.

"Great. Get a copy of that, and then we'll see if we can get a full layout from the security control room. Danny, get the lift." Charter quickly copied the file across to her small palm top, while Daniel worked out the lift controls.

"O'Neill, such a central control room is surely guarded extensively."

"I know T, but if they're as alert as these boys were…" O'Neill indicated the unconscious guards. "…Then we shouldn't have any problem."

Teal'c raised one eyebrow, but remained silent.

As the team filed into the elevator, Janet lingered behind.

"I've got a bad feeling about this…" She muttered half to herself. Charter looked up at her, and nodded in agreement.

As SG-1 began to descend into the hidden complex, another team was also making their entrance.

* * *

**DR: **One should always pay attention to bad feelings... Till next time! 


	16. Dino Crisis,4

**DR: **Things are coming to a head now...

* * *

"How's it coming Rick?"

"How do you think? Slow!" There was the crackle of shorted electronics. "This would have been child's play on the level…"

Regina didn't have an answer to that comment. It had been her idea to enter the hidden complex via the ventilation system after all. Trouble was the only exterior exit was one-third the way down the cliff face behind the compound. Here the rock face was sloped at almost sixty degrees, making it impossible to work without hanging onto something. Rick was therefore having to hotwire the unexpected lock on the vent while hanging onto a rope secured above.

Regina herself crouched on one knee at the loosely defined 'edge' of the safe area of the plateau, looking down at Rick while he worked. Gail and Paula were secreted nearby, watching for any sign of hostile response to their attempts to enter. Dylan was holding Rick up. The rope that supported him was wrapped round an exposed reinforcement bar in the concrete wall of the compound. It looked like the ground near that point had fallen into the sea, and the weak, locally mixed concrete had fallen along with it. Since they couldn't tie the rope to the bar for fear of being discovered while they were inside, Dylan had simply looped the rope round the bar, handed one end to Rick and tied the other end to his combat belt. With all his muscle mass and weaponry, Dylan could have supported any two of the others on the other end of the rope with no trouble. To prevent the rope fraying on the rocks the part holding Rick was run though one of Dylan's belt loops, while he held on to the part tied to him, taking the strain in his arms rather than the knots or his waist.

Regina glanced up, looking out over the Med. Despite the very real danger of discovery, she realised that the night was very peaceful. The moon was just rising and the sea rippled gently. Behind her the small city for the most part slept. Gentle lighting from the more tourist heavy sections faded quickly, while music and laughter were faint, soothing sounds in Regina's ears, despite the fact that she was crouched on the edge of the plateau overlooking the main areas where all that partying was happening. Sometimes Regina missed being that age…

She shook her head, trying to dispel such thoughts. She had never _been_ that age. She had gone straight from a child to an adult though a life of crime, hardship and then government service. She had never even thought about quitting since she had found that she had a talent for this lifestyle. And to be honest, she found it exhilarating. The danger, the search for justice, the sorting of lies from truth, they all sparked something within her that fired her blood and gave her life meaning. She was….

…She was content. But was she happy? No. Regina had quickly learned that she just couldn't fit in with the rest of humanity, uneasy even in the most peaceful of places. Why was that? Maybe because unlike the rest of the people, she knew what lay hidden in the shadows, the undercurrents formed from mankind's most vile traits. As a child she had grow up in a world that had been rocked to its core by the 'First Terrorist Attacks', 9/11, 2001 and 7th of July, 2005. That was what was most different about this place, this time. These events were still to come. The feeling of the long war against terrorism and extremism had yet to set in. China had yet to really make its mark felt in the world, and the worst of the terrorist atrocities were still a long way off. These people still had that sense of optimism and hope that had somehow been lost from her generation – time wise – long ago.

And yet… despite feeling that she should pity them, for not knowing what was to come, and that they would soon lose their innocence, Regina also felt a hard numb of envy. The people of this time lived their lives more fully and freely than hers ever could. They _enjoyed _life, went about their lives without the constant fear that the next bomb would be under their feet that day, that the next snipers bullet wouldn't have their name on it. They lived without the constant spectre of death hanging around them like a shroud. And, despite her words to Dylan earlier, she actually felt like a real person here, like she belonged. She still couldn't quite fit in, but as time passed Regina felt more and more drawn to this time.

_'IF we find a way home, will I take it?'_ The question shocked her, for up till then there had been no doubt in her mind that they were ALL going home. The last thing she expected to be thinking about was staying here _by choice._

If she did, where would she go, what would she do? She knew the danger in this line of thought. Above all else she could not affect the future. None of them could jeopardise the timeline, since even the smallest change could cause enormous harm. 'What if Hitler had not come to power' had been the most popular question on the lips of the scientists who studied temporal theories. What would have happened? No, despite the temptation to try to prevent the worst of the terrorist attacks, the future could not be altered for fear of causing absolute chaos.

But then, wasn't she already altering the future, breaking and entering this place? They had already made changes, simply by being here. Who knows what these small, seemingly inconsequential changes could cause? Regina felt her head begin to hurt as those thoughts went round and around, so it was a relief when Rick called up.

"All right, we're in."

Quickly Regina rappelled down the rope. As expected Rick had moved lower down to allow her to enter the duct first. This wasn't just gentlemanly conduct: Regina was the expert in stealth infiltration and recon. She was simply better at sneaking than the others, period.

What WAS surprising was the size of the duct. Regina was able to move forward in a crouch, and could sit back on her heels with ease. Although the much more bulky men would possibly have too crawl, she and Paula would be able to move fairly quickly around here. Unhooking a hand light, she quickly made room for Rick as he clambered in. Grunts from outside revealed that Gail was next in. Ahead the duct disappeared into the rock, the far end lost beyond the small lights power to reach. Glancing back to make sure that the others were okay, Regina set off into the gloom.

Outside Dylan belayed himself down the rock face to reach the vent. The rope was a little short, but Dylan had figured on that. Quickly undoing the knot round his waist while still holding onto the rope, Dylan positioned himself directly above the vent. Taking a deep breath, he pushed off the rocks, letting go of the rope as he did so.

They couldn't have done it better in the movies. As he began to fall, the rope he was hanging to was pivoting against the edge. The result was that he quickly began to swing back towards the cliff, straight into the open vent. Catching the upper edge to break his momentum, Dylan slid into the duct with room to spare and without hitting his daughter. Outside the rope slid free of the reinforcement bar it had been wrapped around and began to slide over the edge. Dylan quickly wound it back in and stowed it within his backpack. He started to stand up, but his head impacted the metal only 2 inches above it. Ahead came the sound of muffled female laughter.

"Ahhow!"

"Sorry Poppa, did I mention that the ceilings a little low?" Dylan didn't need to see her face to know that Paula had a wide grin on her face.

"Thanks for the warning." He grunted in reply, before shifting position to be kneeling. Despite his care, he couldn't stop his weapons striking the ducts metal walls, ceiling and floor several times.

"Are you quite done back there, or are you trying to bring the whole camp down on us?" Came Gail's harsh whisper from the darkness beyond Paula.

"Ha, real funny." Dylan shot back before starting forward behind Paula.

Far ahead, Regina was considering a fork in the ducts when she heard the exchange. Grinning her secret grin that only she knew about, she gently waved a hand in front of each opening, trying to get a feel of which would be the right choice. But there was little, if any, difference in the air currents between them.

_'Alright, we'll have to try something else…"_ Regina thought. Closing her eyes, she tried to visualise the possible layout of the place. Logically, the most important and secret areas would be deep within the complex. That meant, usually, in the lowest level, furthest from the exits.

But something else had to be checked, her gut. Regina had lately been relying more on her gut instinct than before. Ever since Iblis Island, where it had been only her gut instinct that had saved her time and time again. And this time, her gut said…

Opening her eyes, Regina started forward into the deeper part of the complex. Something told her that the place to be was not far below her but a way inside. Regina decided to follow her gut again.

Suddenly she stopped. Her thoughts about Iblis Island had triggered an almost forgotten memory. Just after landfall, she and Gail had been waiting for Rick and Cooper to show up on a beach. While waiting, she had taken the time to look around. The sea had been calm, gently rippled, while the moon had been full.

_Just like tonight…and that mission had been described as a cakewalk…_

A shiver ran up her spine that had nothing to do with the temperature of the air.

* * *

**DR: **Oh, the bad feelings are mounting...


	17. Convergance

**Sorry I've not touched so long, but I had another story idea that I had to work out of my system. Course, it didn't help when that story spawned a saga...**

**This chapter** **is a collection of smaller scenes, all of which I wrote up in my lunch breaks at work. So no beta I'm afraid. Tell me what you think, and if I should persue this (I know I'll have at least one vote), or if I should just drop it and focus on that HP fic idea that's buzzing round my head now...**

* * *

Colonel O'Neill was nervous. Most people wouldn't have seen it, but Teal'c had had decades of experience reading people. He was able to pick out the tiny signs of tension. 

And O'Neill had every right to be nervous. The halls they were working their way through were fashioned in Tau'ri style, but darker, more menacing. Dim strip lights cast enough light to move about, but left the ceiling hidden in shadow. He could see how all the others in the team were affected by the atmosphere. Surprisingly Daniel Jackson appeared to be the least affected by the low light.

What concerned Teal'c most though was the lack of guards, or indeed any personal. After the two guards at the surface, they had yet to see a sign of anyone. The lack activity was disturbing, since it was clear as day that there had been activity recently, and quite heavy too. This, in Teal'c opinion, did not bode well at all.

xxxxxxxx

"That's the third lab we've seen" Regina nodded at Ricks words, an uneasy feeling in her gut. It had steadily grown as the team pushed their way further into the complex. They had passed vents in the airshaft along the way that had allowed them tantalising glimpses in went on down here. Or at least, might have happened.

What they had seen had been both disappointing and disturbing. The empty labs had been surprise, and apart from the large empty tanks that were ranked up in the centre of each one, had yielded up no clues as to their purpose. The sight of so many tanks had sent a shiver up Regina's spine, though for the life of her she couldn't figure out why she found them so unsettling.

Another surprise had been the lack of personal even this far into the facility. From what they had seen, the place could have held dozens, even over a hundred with ease. But the corridors and rooms were silent and empty. Some of the bunk rooms showed signs of recent habitation, but everything looked abandoned.

They pushed onwards, a cold feeling running through them all. That sense had prompted Regina to remain in the ducting for now. She knew the others would follow her for a while more, even Gail.

Fortunately they had come across a transfer conduit, where Rick was able to hack into the bases systems. After several minutes of furious and tense hacking, he'd located the main security control room. With barely a word they had headed off for that room.

As they moved deeper into the base, that lump of ice in Regina's gut grew larger and larger, and a thread of it was beginning to travel up her spine. She had not seen, heard or felt anything to make her feel this way, but try as she might she could not shake it off.

She glanced over her shoulder towards the others, seeking reassurance… and finding none. Gail was tight-lipped, his face a mask, but his hand gripped the MP5 so tightly that his knuckles were even whiter than the rest of him.

Rick was all but invisible, his dark skin blending in with the darkness of the air vent, but his eyes stood out, and she could see they were clouded with concern. Just over his shoulder Paula's pale face could just be seen, and she wore her concerns and fears openly.

Taking a deep breath. Regina looked forwards once more down the vent, and pushed onwards, while checking once more that her Glock's safety was off.

xxxxxxxx

General Hammond smiled warmly as the SGC's guest walked down the ramp. With even less to smile about each day, he took every chance he got. "Jacob, good to see you again."

Jacob Carter smiled in reply, but Hammond knew him well enough to see that it was forced. "Hi George." He paused, taking a deep breath. "We need to talk."

Hammond simply nodded before leading the way up to his office. Within a minute both men were sat down across the heavy mahogany desk. "I wasn't expected to see you here again soon." He said once they were seated.

Jacob half shrugged. "Neither was I… but that was before the Council got a report from one of our operatives." Jacob leaned forward slightly, lowering his voice a little without even realising it.

"Our agent had managed to work his way into the confidences of one of the minor Goa'uld who serve Anubis. This particular Goa'uld, Ra'kesh, has been given the task of destroying, or at the least crippling, the Tau'ri from within."

"The Trust?" Hammond asked, just straight to the most likely candidates.

Jacob shook his head. "No, Anubis doesn't trust that organisation. Ra'kesh is still playing things very close to his chest, but our agent was able to learn that his plan involves the use of symbiotes, just like in the Kull warriors."

"A new type of super solider?" Hammond queried, a shiver running up his spine. They could barely deal with the existing ones…

Jacob shook his head once again. "From the little our operative gained, it appears that this time instead of growing engineered human bodies that burn out very quickly, Ra'kesh plans to implant the symbiotes into predatory beasts. Something much more stronger and tougher than a human being naturally."

"Unas?"

"That was our first guess too, but that's not right either." Jacob sighed. "George, he's on Earth, right now. And whatever he's going to use, it either lives or has lived on this world."

That shiver turned into a column of ice running right up Hammonds spine. He could think of at least a half dozen of Earth's native wildlife that would be suited to the role…

Suddenly his thoughts jumped back to something Jacob had said earlier. "You said he 'had' managed…"

Jacob nodded. "Our operatives last report was interrupted. He was about to reveal what beasts they were going to use when he was caught in the act. Over the channel we heard Earth weapons being fired. From the remainder of the transmission we're pretty sure he got away from that, but he's covers blown for good. And he had to abandon his transmitter."

Hammond nodded slowly, sympathetic with Jacob. A sudden thought came to him. "Do you know where on Earth he is?"

" South America. That's as precise as we can get."

xxxxxxxx

Nathan was bored. It was not very interesting staring at a bunch of monitors all day. But then again he was used to boredom.

A Fifth rate student from a tenth rate collage, he'd spent nearly his whole adult life drifting, no purpose or goals. He'd left his home the day after getting the results of his collage exams. He'd failed them all, not surprising really since he hadn't even tried, but then it was his belief that the exams were all useless, dreamt up by corrupt men as a means of labelling people to fit in their broken society. He didn't even acknowledge that he hadn't tired at all.

Nathan believed himself a brilliant intellectual, that he was gifted. In reality he was nothing more than a deluded, self obsessed junkie, who hadn't the brains to understand even basic principles. It had been why he had been so easily taken in by the cult.

However, quickly the others in the cult had learned that the ex-student was almost permanently stoned, and he was as clumsy as hell. After nearly killing a dozen people in a lab with an ill-timed gesture, he'd been reassigned to security. And after nearly killing everyone in the complex when he'd starting trying to juggle grenades - in the armoury, no less – he'd been given the task of sitting here and watching the monitors, with orders not to touch anything. Even so, he'd already broken three.

Truthfully, this suited Nathan just fine. All he had to do was just sit there, facing the screens. As nothing happened, he was free to get high on drugs and dream of a better world, or rather a better world as he saw it. The fact that today everyone in the complex had been summoned to a special meeting on the lowest level suited him just fine. It left him free to pull out the really good stuff.

So as he sat there, head wreathed in smoke and dreaming of the plains of America covered only in cannabis plants – tended to by half naked women, any of which he could take at any time – he didn't notice the slight sound as the vent into the air shaft behind his was moved from within.

He had just smiled at a particular image in his head when the edge of Regina's hand chopped down on the back of his at the base of the skull. He was so stoned he didn't realise what had happened as he fell into darkness.

Standing over his unconscious form, Regina frowned and wrinkled her nose at the stink that rose off him. Taking a step back to get some clear air, she turned as Rick began to try and hack into the system.

Behind, on one of the monitors that looked over the approaches to the control room, five figures, hugging the shadows, emerged from a side corridor and moved towards the door…

xxxxxxxx

It had not taken them long to reach this point. The total lack of guards, security systems or any other personnel allowed them to move quickly. However, the same lack of personnel was disturbing. This cult was supposed to have dozens, maybe even over a hundred members. So where were they?

O'Neill put these concerns out of his mind as they approached the main control room. Surely this room would be staffed, despite the lack of guards outside.

Reaching the doors, he turned to look back at the rest of his team. Using hand signals, he conveyed his orders. The whine-click of activating Zat's seemed incredibly loud in the quite hall. When they were in position, he held up his free hand and began to count down with his fingers. _'Three… two… one…GO!'_

In a burst of fluid motion SG-1 entered the control room. But even as the doors swung open four of the five within were reacting, their reflexes and training making up for the surprise.

Jack and Teal'c dropped down behind a couple of office chairs, not that they would be much use against the shotgun that a giant of a man, nearly as heavily built as Teal'c, was pointing at them. Sam and Daniel clung to the doorway, ready to provide cover.

Jack found himself the object of attention of a pair of snub nosed MP5's… and the stunningly beautiful woman holding them. Despite the partial cover of a console, he could see how her form fitted armour clung to her figure, highlighting her curves and pale skin. _'Damn, she looks hot in that…' _he mused. _'Why can't the women in the SGC wear something like that?' _

For a long moment no one moved, neither side wanting to start a fire fight, but they kept their weapons trained. As the tension began to rise, Jacks eyes leaped from one person to another, assessing and evaluating each one. But it was when his eyes landed on the slumped form of the control room guard that his sarcasm raised its head.

"Well… this wasn't in the tour guide."


	18. Unveiling The Truth

**DR: **Sorry for the long update, and I have no real excuse. Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

Dylan raised an eyebrow at the newcomers words. Silently he looked over at Regina. She was stood stock still, both guns raised and aimed at the two men who had entered the room so suddenly. She seemed to be unaffected by them, but he could see the corner of her mouth twitch a bit.

Dylan turned his attention back to these new people. He marked four, two taking cover at the doorway, along with the two who had entered the control room. The one who had spoken was crouched down behind a chair, his lean face giving nothing away. He reminded Dylan of Gail, only even more professional and lethal. There was a coldness in this man's eyes, one from seeing far to much. Dylan quickly pegged him as a special forces veteran.

The other man… Dylan had to swallow the lump that formed in his throat as he looked over his enormous physique. _'Damn, that guy's got more muscles than me!' _The guy looked to be a solid block of muscle, with muscles like watermelons beneath that dark skin. His face was almost totally expressionless, though one eyebrow had risen at the other mans words. Dylan figured if this guy wrestled a raptor, he'd bet on the man, not the lizard.

At the doorway, all he could really see of the others was a head half hidden by a compact gun. Looking at the face, he spied two baby-blue eyes within the soft features of a woman. A few strands of dirty blond hair escaped from under the grey peaked cap that she was wearing.

Dylan's eyes dropped to the weapon the woman was holding professionally. At first he couldn't place it, as she had it trained on him, but a glance at the older man showed he was holding the same weapon. He frowned as he realised what it was.

_'P90's? Those things should still be in the design phase at some R&D lab right now. How on Earth did this lot get a hold of some?'_ The SPAS 12 the giant was holding was a more common weapon though.

He looked back at their group. Rick was bracing his weapon on the computer console, using the bulk of the outdated systems as cover. Gail was down by a desk, weapon held in an unwavering grip with a frown on his face. _'Does that man have any other facial expressions?' _

Regina had been caught out of cover, but that hadn't deterred her. Besides, they all knew that she was the smallest target and the most agile. If a fight broke out, she'd be out of there like lightning.

"Just who are you?" Gail ground out, putting a stop to Dylan's thoughts.

The Lean faced man tipped his head up and to the side a bit. "I was just going to ask you the same thing."

Gail's frown deepened. "I asked first."

O'Neill couldn't help it; he had to maintain the banter. "So?"

Just outside the door Daniel shook his head. "Jack…" He said quietly. Sam, standing next to him, nodded slightly in agreement. Why did Jack O'Neill always have to push things?

Regina was struggling hard to maintain a composed face as Gail fumed. This man had a sharp sense of humour! Crazy, insane, but sharp.

"From the looks of Mr 'Out-for-the-Count' over there, you folks don't belong here."

Before Gail could speak, Regina cut in. "Neither do you."

O'Neill paused for a second. "Point."

For a long moment no-one spoke. "Maybe… if we each go about our business, we won't need to shoot each other." Regina suggested.

O'Neill smirked. "I like the sound of that."

Gail however was not amused. "Have you gone mad?" He hissed. "We can't let _anyone _know we were here!"

"Too late for that." O'Neill cut in.

"He's right Gail." Regina was still looking at O'Neill, and so missed the look that Gail threw at her. From O'Neill's face however, she easily pictured it. "Clearly, this team were after something here themselves. We've just bumped into each other. I'm sure that whatever they want, it's not what we're after."

"How can you be so sure?" This time it was Rick who spoke up.

Regina was silent for a moment. "A hunch."

"A _Hunch_?" Gail was all but spitting nails.

O'Neill's smirk grew larger. "I can live with that. You don't tell we were here, we do the same for you. Deal?"

Regina glanced about, catching everyone's eye. Gail held out for a long moment, but in the end nodded just the same. "Deal."

Slowly trigger fingers eased, and people began to relax. As O'Neill stood, he allowed his weapon to fall into a relaxed stance, ready to raised at a moments notice. _'Smart man.' _Dylan thought as he lowered his own weapon.

"Right… Carter, get in here and see what you can dig up."

AS the rest of SG1 filtered in, Rick went back to hacking into the system. By the time Sam had moved over to the main board, he'd already gotten past the regular layers of the system.

"Well, there's nothing in here. It's all junk… hang on." Rick leaned closer instinctively. "We've got a second layer. A hidden level of encoded data."

"Can you crack it?" Dylan asked.

"Please… You're talking to a genius here!" Rick answered easily as his fingers flew across the keyboard. Sam meanwhile had interfaced her laptop into the network, and was already browsing through the upper level, looking for anything of note. When Rick looked at her he snorted.

"Miss, that pocket pad is not cut out for something like this."

Sam smiled sweetly, though those who knew her could see the glint in her eye. "It's been upgraded." Even Teal'c knew the meaning of her irony.

"Hmmm…" was Rick's non-committal answer. A few minutes later he perked up. "Oh I am a genius…" he trailed off.

"What is it?" Regina asked, knowing that if Rick was stumped, then it was big.

"I've broken in and decrypted the data… but it looks like they double encoded the data. I can't make heads or tails of this." Regina leaned in to see lines of strange characters. She frowned as she looked at them. They weren't like any form of computer code she'd seen… and there was something else. Some of the characters looked familiar…

"Patch me the feed?" Sam asked, and at a nod from Regina Rick complied. Sam was silent for a long moment.

"Carter?" O'Neill asked as the silence dragged on.

"Sir…" Sam looked up, her eyes wide and with a tingle of shock. "…Intel was right." She turned her computer slightly so that he could see the screen.

"Ah crap." O'Neill muttered when he saw the lines of Gou'ald characters.

xxxxxxxx

Bond frowned as he glanced into yet another empty room. He'd affected entry into the main building several minutes ago, and aside from a distinct lack of electrical lights and soft furnishings, there was nothing of interest. Oh there was quite a bit of symbolic imagery, some of it done in very nice decorative objects, but so far nothing that suggested even a hint of what was going on.

And where was everyone? He'd slipped in when the guards were suddenly withdrawn, with no replacements for the towers. That really spooked Bond. You don't have fortified emplacements and then abandon them… unless you have no more need of them.

He was just about to head down a side corridor when he heard a rhythmic thumping. Glancing down it, he saw a tall figure moving further down. _'Now where are you off to…'_

With the noise the man was making, it was easy to follow the man. As bond got closer though, the mystery got more and more confusing. The man, at least six and a half feet tall, was wearing a broad and heavy looking collar which had parts extending out over his shoulders. A long black cape that reflected motes of light hung from it. What little of his arms Bond could see were clad in chain-mail, and he wore heavy looking boots.

Sweeping through a door like Darth Vader, the man walked to the far end of a large room. Bond glanced in through the still open door, to see several ranks of men dressed as the first guy. Only these one's lacked the cape, revealing the body encompassing chain-mail armour with the metal looking plates that covered their backs. Now he was closer, Bond could make out the ridged scale pattern on the back plates, and on the leather looking skirt things they wore. A gun metal grey skull cap covered their heads, and in their right hands they held six foot long, oddly shaped staffs.

The caped one reached the far end, and turned to face the others. He carried no staff, and instead of the skull cap he had a long top knot. A gold emblem was stuck to his forehead. He looked at his men, around forty Bond reckoned, before raising his hands to each side.

_"Cree jaffa, Ha'tel, chec ten-rak." _He spoke loudly and firmly. _"Chal'tor Ra'kesh, sept nem ron'ic!" _

_'What the hell is this guy saying?' _

* * *

**DR: **If you're thinking the same as 007... don't ask! I just made that Jaffa speak up! I'll try to put together another update soon, but no promises! 


	19. Ringside Seat to Death

**DR: **Okay, I wish to apologsie for the long wait. I haven't been working on this story much, been focused on the 'Legacies' Saga... as well as job hunting, my oral health (will be having all four wisdon teeth out soon... cue shudder), other stuff...

This chapter is where things start going seriously downhill. It gets messy from here on out!

* * *

Chapter 19 

O'Neill looked at the streams of Gou'ald characters for a long moment, ignoring the strange looks he was getting from the other team. While he had never learned the language, he knew that if the computer system was in Gou'ald, then there was bound to one of those snakes around here.

He looked over his team. Sam was looking up at him, eyes slightly widened when she was waiting for him to decide. Daniel appeared to be trying to read the data, while Teal'c was off to the side, his face a mask. Janet looked apprehensive, not surprising since this would the first time she met a Gao'uld on a mission.

He sighed. "Okay… Carter, you got everything?"

"Just finished downloading all the files." She answered. Rick took a long and surprised look at her laptop as she closed it down.

"Right… now where…"

"O'Neill." Teal'c cut in. Jack hurried over to the Jaffa to see him holding a single sheet of paper. "This appears to be an internal memo. It orders all personal to assemble in the central chamber."

Jack whirled round to look at Sam. "Can you figure out where that is?" He held in the rest of his phrase, mindful of the others.

Sam nodded. "Got it right here sir." She patted a pocket on her pants.

"Right, lets go see what is going on…"

As she watched the other team leave, Regina frowned. They knew something about what was going on, or about the people who ran the place.

"Well, now what?" Rick asked once the others had stepped through the door.

Regina glanced at the others in her team, before stepping towards the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Gail asked coldly.

Regina answered without turning around. "They know something. And until we understand this place, we're blind. I say we stay with them until we get our bearings." And with that she stepped out.

Gail muttered under his breath for a moment, then turned to face the others… only to see that they were already following Regina. Rick paused in the door to look back at him.

"She does have a point Gail." He said simply before disappearing.

Gail looked up at the ceiling for a moment before following, an annoyed frown on his face.

O'Neill wasn't surprised when the other team began to follow them. Truth be told, he was glad of the backup. While SG1 had a stunning record against the Gao'uld, he'd much rather have some more people alongside him and his team. Besides, they looked like they could take care of themselves.

Quickly the ten people began to intermingle. Paula drifted to be besides the red haired woman and bespectacled man, which Dylan approved of. He could tell that these two were the least military of the others, and so he made sure to trail a bit behind them, covering their six.

Regina moved up to join the man called O'Neill, and together they swept an intersection. "So, O'Neill… you have a first name? Or a rank?" She asked quietly. That cold feeling was getting stronger.

"Colonel Jack O'Neill, US Air Force." Was the terse reply.

Regina paused, and she looked back at the others of her group. She saw that Dylan's eyes hand gone wide, and even Rick looked stunned. Hell, even _Gail _showed some surprise. _'Could it really be the same man?' _She wondered. However their Jack O'Neill was not a lowly Colonel, but the Chief of Staff. Rumours had abounded about his 'Covet Ops' days…

She looked over the rest of O'Neill's team, trying to match faces with any she had seen in connections with 'her' O'Neill. The two men and the red-head were coming up blank, but the blond…

Shaking her head, she refocused on the task at hand. Something was going on here, and it was giving her a really bad feeling…

Coming down some steps, Teal'c stopped suddenly, raising a hand. Everyone froze.

"What you got T?" O'Neill asked, as the huge man looked about slowly.

For a long moment he was silent. Then he answered simply. "This way." Before heading off down a corridor. Regina shared a look with Rick, who shrugged.

A few metres down the corridor however, she heard what the big man must have heard before. A deep, booming voice, which resonated in a strange manner.

The ten people emerged onto a balcony, which overlooked a vast open space. It was about the size of a football field, the ceiling high above. Packed around a raised platform were dozens, maybe hundreds of people. Most of them were in lab coats, others in dusty jackets. They were all cheering and rejoicing.

And stood above them, high on the platform, was a single man dressing in long robes of gold.

X-X-X-X-X-X

Bond frowned as he watched both the armour plated men he had followed down from the mansion above, and the golden clothed chap standing out there on the platform. A couple of other men stood besides him, each one clearly much less important than him. He could hear the cheering of a large number of people at the man's words as he moved back a touch to see below even as the man continued his speech.

"…And now, we have at last completed the perpetrations to destroy the decedent infidels who control the world. They may think that with their advanced technology…" Bond frowned more deeply. Was that a trick of the chamber, or was this man dismissive of Western science? "…that they rule this world. But I tell you now, that nothing they have can withstand the power of nature!"

More cheering rose up, thundering throughout the chamber. Looking around, Bond frowned as he saw a number of large gates at ground level, all closed.

"The Army you have helped to build will rise up from the very ground, tearing them apart in a display of pure, natural aggression! The cities will remain, but the people will not."

The cheering had died down now, and Bond was feeling uneasy. This did not sound good.

"Their armies will fall before our forces, unable to understand or fight…"

"But my Lord, how are a bunch freaky snakes going to do all that?" One voice yelled out from the crowd. "Besides, surely we'd target only the corrupt governments?"

Bond looked at the man, and even though he could not see a full face, he could see that he was scowling.

"The people are the ones who support those corrupt governments fool! And as for how my children will destroy them…" He grinned evilly… right before his eyes glowed. "…**I think a demonstration is in order!**"

Bond was thrown by the sudden change in the man's voice. That plus the glowing eyes stunned him.

The man in gold dropped his right hand on top his left and adjusted something.

The rumble of machine drowned out the murmurings from the crowd, and the many heavy gates that Bond had notice opened up. Once they all opened there was silence.

Then something screamed.

It was scream that froze the blood and chilled the bone. A primordial cry that had not been heard on earth for several million years. Bonds heart began to race.

And then something emerged from one of the tunnels. A hundred eyes snapped to the dark brown creature as first one then more stepped out of the darkness.

Bond found his jaw hanging as the raptors all howled together before charging right for the screaming men…

X-X-X-X-X-X

Sam gasped as she saw a veritable tide of creatures pour out from all sides of the chamber and overrun the people who only a few minutes ago had been cheering the Gao'uld. The whole of SG1 had winced when the alien tones had emerged, but the growling screams of the beasts that attacked the people who had worked for him… if struck fear into her.

Dylan wrapped a hand round Paula's head, drawing her into him and always from the carnage that was taking place far below. The screams of the humans being torn limb from limb rent the air, while on the platform above it all the golden clothed man was laughing. Laughing!

One of the two people at his side had collapsed and was throwing up, while the other had turned on him and started yelling. His words were drowned out by the snarls and sickening sound coming from below, but it was clear that he was asking what was going on, in a most hysterical manner.

Then a massive, armour plated man stepped through from the doorway behind them, lowered his staff… and a golden blast leapt from the tip and exploded into the side of the man. He crashed down at the foot of the monster who had unleashed this massacre.

At last the sounds of torment ended, with just the sounds of tearing flesh and crushed bones fill the air. Then the man stepped forward. "**Cree Hark,Nar!**" He bellowed. As one the raptors stopped their mauling of the dead and looked up at him. Many of their snouts were bloodied.

"**Shal nek, ter arch, kal var, et… scah'ell! Tak snell, vor'car Tau'ri!**" At the end of his string of gibberish, the eyes of all the raptors, and the allosaurs that had entered shortly afterwards, all glowed yellow, before they all howled.

"Oh god." Daniel half whispered.

"What now?" O'Neill asked, dreading the answer then though he already had an idea of what it was.

"He just said, roughly translated; 'My children, given form of the beast, go out and wipe this planet clean of human life. Procreate using your hosts, and spread to all the corners of this world.'" Daniel answered, his voice sounding shocked.

"Figures…" O'Neill muttered.

"This is some really bad shit we're in now Regina!" Rick cursed.

"I know, but at least we know there is a timegate down here…" She answered, though her face was still paler than usual.

"Timegate?" Sam asked, desperate for anything to take her mind off the fact that they had just had ringside seats to a massacre.

"What we came here looking for." Was all Regina said, while behind her Gail shot her a dirty look.

"All right…" O'Neill begun while below a number of creatures began to move out of certain large tunnels that had just opened up. "We still need to get that snake. Just now we've got to ensure that none of them get out into the city." Several faces paled at the though of what those creatures would do to the civilians topside. "So, lets…"

His words were cut off though by a snarled scream. Spinning around, they all looked to see one of the raptors was stood at the other end of the balcony, looking right at them.

"Aw Crap!"


	20. The Last Players

**DR: **Once again, I must beg your forgiveness for the delay. With twelve and half hours each week day taken up by my job, any writing time has been swallowed by my 'Legacies' arc. But rest asured, I have been slowly adding to this story, the odd scene here and there when I got a spot of writers block for 'BoB'. But rest assured, I WILL be focusing all my writing attention on this from now on...

And now, we see what happens to the other groups...

* * *

Chapter 20

It had taken them less than half an hour to unpack their cases earlier that day. Now, with the sun setting and Willow growing more frantic by the second, it was taking more than twice as long to repack them. Course, Willow losing focus and just standing there shivering didn't help things at all.

Buffy slammed her case shut, using her incredible strength to hold it closed while doing up the zips. Effortlessly she hauled the case off the bed and moved to the main door. Dumping her load there, she turned to Willow's room.

"Will! You done yet?"

"Almost!" The sounds of a zip being drawn punctuated her statement, and a moment later the young witch dragged her case through the doorway.

"All right, let's get out of here." Quickly the two of them made their way out of their room and headed for the lifts. Quickly and quietly they descended to the ground floor, though not fast enough for Willow. Buffy noted that she was leaning from foot to foot, her hand wringing themselves together.

Once they reached the foyer, both young women strode towards the main entrance. As they stepped through a dirty, off white jeep pulled up with five people within. As she waited for Willow to come through after checking out, Buffy allowed her eyes to wander across them. The driver and one other man looked as weather-beaten as the jeep itself, while one of the women had that same air about her. The third man was dressed completely in black, which set alarm bells ringing in Buffy's head. The last person…

Buffy couldn't stop her jaw from dropping. The second women was nothing short of drop dead gorgeous. _'I wish I had THAT kind of figure!'_ The woman was a good five-eight of pure feminine curves and grace. Long brunette hair done into an elaborate pony-tail ran down her back almost to her wide hips. Her killer legs ran down from beneath her dark shorts into a pair of well tailored boots, and her hands seemed almost delicate. However it was the woman's chest that drew the bulk of Buffy's attention. Even from three-quarters behind, it was clear that this lady was amply stacked up there. Once more, Buffy wondered what she done to deserve getting such a puny bust-line…

Her moment of reflection was cut short when Willow stepped through the doors… then promptly stumbled. A ragged gasp escaped her lips.

"Willow! You okay?" Buffy crouched down by her friend.

"It's started…" Willow half whispered, pure terror in her voice. Buffy was about to question what had started, when screams began to echo from the direction of the beach…

X-X-X-X-X-X

All five of them froze when the first scream cut across the air. As one they all turned to look towards the beach, their hearts racing. And then cutting across the screams came a snarled growl, and then a snarled screech, high pitched and chilling to the blood. Grant, Ian and Sarah all felt the blood drain from their faces: they knew what created that sound.

"Oh please god no…" Sarah whispered, causing Lara to glance at her questioningly.

"You know…" She never finished her question as movement further down the street caught her eye and drew her attention. When she saw what it was her jaw fell and for a second she was speechless. Then she uttered the first words that entered her brain. "Bloody Hell!"

Standing at the end of the street, one foot pressed down on a still screaming man, was a raptor. A good six feet tall and nine long, the darkly mottled brown colour gave it an evil air. With a quick and fluid nature it lowered its head and snapped the poor mans neck, as easily as anything.

As they watched, more raptors appeared, following the people streaming from the beach or leaping out of side streets. For a long moment they could only watch, until Lara saw one of the beasts turn towards them.

"Look out!" she yelled, dragging a stunned Sarah Harding back with her as the Raptor leapt. Both its clawed feet slammed into the jeeps bonnet, the front bumper hitting the ground from the impact. The raptors jaws snapped shut where Sarah's head had been a second earlier, and it snarled down at them.

Indy swung his fist at the beast, striking it across the muzzle. The raptor didn't appear to react at first, but then it turned to him deliberately. And then the really strange thing happened.

The raptors eyes glowed brightly for a second.

Indy was quite understandably taken aback. "What the…"

The raptor prepared to leap, but then the roar of a shotgun was heard, and the beast was thrown off the jeep. Indy glanced across at Grant, looking at the smoking 12-gauge shotgun he held. "Where did you get that?"

"I attached it on the underside of the jeep."

"Fellers, the raptor…" Sarah's voice was filled with worry, her hand pointing shakily. Both men turned to look.

The raptor, despite the gaping wound in its side was getting back on its feet. And even as they looked, they saw other raptors laying into the local population. Blood and body parts flew everywhere as the viscous predators tore into them.

Grant pumped another shell and let fly at point blank range even as the raptor leapt at him. The blast opened up a gaping wound in its chest but didn't stop the raptor from ploughing into him. Grant lost his gun as he ended up lying on his back with the raptor on top.

Lara spun into action, laying a side kick into the raptors wound. It howled in agony, staggering to one side a little. Just enough for Grant to roll out from under it. Indy tried to move in for another blow, but the raptors tail whipped round and struck him across the chest. He staggered back as the breath was driven from his lungs. The motion also put it face to face with Lara. She tired to give it another spin kick, but the beast ducked and then snapped at her thigh, causing her to lose her balance.

As she lay there, Lara looked up at the raptor as it stepped over her. Reacting quickly she rolled left to avoid the right foot claw as it hammered down into the pavement, but she found herself directly underneath the beast. Already its jaws were opening wide and the head coming down. _'Is this it? I survive all those ancient traps just to be killed by some over grown reptile?'_

Suddenly a skinny blond girl jumped onto the raptors back. Locking her arms round its neck, she twisted her shoulders violently. With a sickening crunch, the Raptors neck was broken. Its eyes glowed brightly again before it toppled to one side. Dead.

Lara looked up at the young women before her. "Thanks." She said, sizing her up as she did so. The women before barely had any meat on her, nearly all skin and bone, and barely looked twenty. Yet she had just snapped a thick raptors neck.

"No problem." Buffy told her. Then her eyes travelled upwards and an alarmed look appeared on her face. "But I think we'll have one soon!"

Lara twisted to look as she sat up. Three raptors stood further down the street, watching them silently. Then they let loose one of those blood-chilling howls together.

"I think you're right…" She commented as she dived for the back of the jeep where her bag was. Where her guns were. Indy she saw was already pulling an old revolver from a holster, while Grant had recovered his shotgun. With a speed born of desperation and not a little fear, Lara had her guns out and primed in less then ten seconds. Spinning around she brought both guns to bear as the raptors broke into a run.

As one she, Indy and Grant fired…

* * *

**DR: **Next chapter we return to where we left O'Neill, slumped over the bar...


	21. Rest

Chapter 21

Jack sighed deeply as he pushed himself back onto his feet. After their horrifying discovery, the next couple of hours had been a blur, a frantic race out of the tunnels of the base. Several times they had been forced to turn and gun down their pursuers, but there were always more following. The worst part was when the Jaffa had joined the hunt. Teal'c had been tagged on his shoulder by a staff blast before they realised what was happening.

Part way through they had run into another man, one who didn't look like he belonged as well. Jack had been surprised at the sight of the tuxedo that he wore, but the body posture and the firm way he held his gun marked him as a professional.

At last they had emerged above ground, into a small parking area besides the main mansion. They had all paused for a moment when they heard the screams coming from the city on all sides, the wailing of sirens and the snarls of the dinosaurs that hunted the tourists in the burning streets.

It was then that things had started going down hill fast. They only had a moment to react to its roar before the Allosaurus had crashed into their midst. While it had not managed to snap anyone up into its jaws, the impact had thrown them about. The small girl had tried to used the AK-47 she'd grabbed from a dead guard, but her inexperience with the gun was clear as the heavy recoil forced the gun upwards, the rounds streaking off harmlessly into the night sky. In reply the dino had kicked her back, the foot claws tearing into her stomach and throwing her over a dozen feet.

Dylan had roared in outrage, before whipping that huge gun off his back. Even as the dino had charged him he had calmly aimed before firing. He had staggered back from the recoil, but the effect on the allosaur was much more remarkable. The entire back of its head had been blown off!

The thunderous gunshot however must have been noticed however, as a whole pack of the smaller dinos had come running. They had piled into a minibus that had been parked there, but not before a few of them suffered slashes and bites. As Gail had thrown their ride along the driveway, the pack had tried to leap onto them, the windows being smashed inwards and the panels buckled. With the Goa'uld controlling them the raptors had taken enormous amounts of firepower to put down, so they had focused mainly on getting them off the bus. Smashing through the gates had mangled the front of the bus, but they were free.

The British man, who had called himself 'Bond', had jumped off when they went around the west wall, before running to what appeared to be empty space. When he had vanished, Jack had gaped. Then the Aston Martin had appeared, and he'd pushed ahead of them, clearing a path.

Everywhere they drove they had seen the people being killed, run down by the raptors. They had tried to help, but even as they put one down another two took its place. It was only when they got near one of the cheaper hotels that they found some people holding out. Taking cover behind an overturned jeep, they discovered three men and four women, three of whom were shooting any raptor that came close. Judging by the number of bodies around them, they were barely managing to hold them off. Gail had pulled over, and with help from SG1 and the others, they had got them out and towards the minibus.

Then things went even worse. A Raptor had leapt out of nowhere and savaged Gail's leg, while another Allosaur had rammed Bond's car, flipping it over. He had barely managed to wiggle out before the dinosaurs weight had caved in the roof. Then it had bit down on something near the front bumper… and an explosion had blasted apart both the front of the car and the dinosaurs head. Bond had muttered something before climbing into the bus after the others.

Now, at last, they could pause and take breath. Janet had been working miracles, but Jack knew that she needed this time to stabilise and patch their wounded. And they all needed to take stock of what they had and the situation they were in.

Personally, Jack figured they were seriously screwed.

X-X-X-X-X-X

Regina winced as she reached for the latches in her body armour. Janet smiled slightly before stepping forwards. "Allow me..." She said gently, though there was a note of finality in her tone.

With a sigh Regina quit trying and just let the doctor do it. Pain laced her side as she lifted the armour clear, but Regina was used to it. Normally in the field she did all this herself, but with a trained doctor here...

Janet slowly lifted the slate grey tank top from the younger woman's side. Against her pale skin the livid bruise underneath stood out horribly. Working gently, she examined the bruised area.

"Well, you're lucky in a way. Looks like only bruised ribs."

"Only!" Regina grunted.

Janet smiled again. "Left one hell of a bruise though. I can give you something for the pain, but I can't do much else right now. Just try and rest and stay off our right side for the next little while."

Regina sighed again. "Okay."

After rolling her top back down, the two women returned to the main bar area. It was pretty much like they'd left it; nearly everyone slumped in their seats. Regina felt the same way, wanting nothing more than a chance to rest.

O'Neill, hearing the two come through, slowly sat upright.

"All right... lets get everyone up stairs."

Slowly, wearily, everyone gathered staggered upright. The adrenaline rush had worn off, and now they were all feeling the pull of their injures, the ache of tired muscles.

Leading the way, O'Neill made his way up the stairs, Carter and Regina just behind him. Teal'c had, with just a nod, told him that he'd make sure everyone made it upstairs before following.

O'Neill looked about. They had emerged onto a broad landing that spanned the width of the building. Seven doors lined the landing, three to the left, four to the right. There was also a small bit of landing at the far end to the left, giving the whole set an 'L' shape. Moonlight streamed in from the window at the far end.

Regina pushed open the door right at the head of the stairs. It opened to reveal a smallish two bed room, typical of motels the world over. Two fairly standard single beds made up the bulk of the furniture... and took up most of the space.

Looking in over her shoulder, O'Neill nodded, then look back at the others making their way up. "You two, here's your space." He gestured to Rick and Gail, who had to take one step at time. Rick nodded gratefully. He also knew that O'Neill hadn't told them to take that room purely out of charity; it was right at the top of the stairs, which made it an ideal defensive position.

Gradually the others sorted themselves out. A deeper look into the private areas of the pub revealed a smallish living space further in from the master bedroom, with a private bathroom and a smaller second bedroom. The badly wounded Paula was laid out on the single bed within, the safest place to be within the building. Dylan almost had to dragged away from the young woman, and ended up lying on one of the long couches in the living space. Janet took the other, to be near her patient.

When Jack returned to the master bedroom he found Ian Malcolm and Sarah Harding lying together on it, arms round each other. Shaking his head, he looked at the balcony that was opposite the bed. As Teal'c had said, it overlooked the intersection, giving a clear view down both streets leading into town, and a decent view down the others, if he moved to the edge.

He looked over at Teal'c. "Give me a hand with this?" He asked.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow, but stepped over to join O'Neill by a decent sized table. Together they shifted it until they could tip it over, filling the bulk of the balcony doorway. Pulling the one door closed, O'Neill dragged a chair over and sat down behind the uprooted table, looking out over the intersection. "Get some sleep Teal'c. I'll take first watch."

Teal'c nodded, before turning to leave. Daniel followed, but Carter hovered.

"Go on Carter. Get some rest. That's an order."

Carter smiled slightly, then turned and walked out, Regina just behind her.

Sighing, O'Neill leaned back in the very comfortable chair, rested his feet on the cross bar on the underside of the table, and settled his gaze on the view outside. An orange glow highlighted a few of the buildings, though the streets themselves were cloaked in darkness. And for that, O'Neill was grateful.


	22. Recovery

O'Neill came awake the next morning to find the British guy sat in a chair next to his, absently cleaning his guns while keeping an eye out on the roads into town.

"Morning colonel." Bond said quietly, not wanting to disturb the other two in the room who were still sleeping.

Blinking the last of sleep from his eyes, Jack eased himself to a more upright position, wincing a little from his stiff joints. "What time is it?" He asked.

Bond's gaze dipped to his watch for a half second. "Gone ten." Was his simple reply as with his other hand he slotted the slide back onto the Walter PPK he held.

O'Neill's eyes fastened onto the small handgun, narrowing slightly. While last night things had been too hectic, he had noted little things about this man. He was an absolutely brilliant shot, and had clearly been trained very well. Yet he'd fought as if alone. And his car had clearly been heavily modified... and armed.

He looked at the Brit's face. "So... MI6?"

Bond paused, then looked back at O'Neill coolly. "Yes." He answered, before his lip twisted slightly. "Colonel Jack O'Neill of Stargate Command."

Jack was a little stunned. How did... then he figured it out. "You got a name, or did they replace it with a number?" He smirked.

Bond smiled; nobody had ever asked that before. "Bond. James Bond. And I have a number. Double-oh seven."

Jack nodded slowly, thinking back to one of the missions he'd been on back in his Black Op days. It had been as support for a double-oh agent, just in case of trouble. He'd witnessed firsthand just what a double-oh could do when pushed. They weren't one man armies... but they certainly were one man commando teams.

Jack turned his head to look outside, signalling that everything was okay between them. "How are the others?"

Bond turned his attention to his weapons again. "Mostly still asleep. I think I heard your doctor moving about a little while ago. Checking on that kid."

Jack winced a little in sympathy. "Yeah, she got hit hard."

Bond looked at him again. "You've seen such weapons before?"

"Yeah. Through the 'Gate."

They sat together in companionable silence for several minutes, watching the silent town. In the light of day, even an overcast one, the horror of the ruined town seemed jarring compared to their memories of the previous day.

Sounds began to drift from the rest of the building.

"Sounds like everyone's starting to awaken." Jack commented as he rose from the chair. "I'll have Teal'c relieve you." He paused. "How long have you been here anyway?"

Bond shrugged. "Couple of hours. I relieved Regina, who took over from your Major Carter."

Nodding, Jack stepped into the private living area. Dylan Morden was sprawled out on the one couch, spark out. Janet's jacket was piled up at one end of the other, clearly having been used as a headrest. Hearing movement in the smaller bedroom, he peered within.

Doc Fraiser was just recovering the girl with the blanket. Besides her a bowl filled with red stained water stood.

"How is she Doc?" He asked softly.

Janet Fraiser turned around, sighing tiredly. "Holding on. There's not much I can do for her here. Best I can do is keep her comfortable until we can get her to the SGC where I can properly treat her wound."

Jack nodded. "How are you holding up?"

She sighed again. "Again, for now okay. I just hope we don't suffer many more injuries. I used up most of my supplies last night."

Jack nodded. "Take it easy. We'll hole up here until we know what to do." As she nodded he turned and headed out.

Stepping out into the hall Jack noted that most of the doors were open, a least a little. Following a sound he knew well, he poked his head into the room in the corner. Sure enough, Daniel was lightly snoring on the one bed, while Teal'c was sat cross legged on the other, apparently meditating.

"Is there something you wish to discuss O'Neill?" The dark skinned Jaffa asked without opening his eyes.

"Yeah... when you feel up to it Teal'c, go take the Brit's place and keep watch."

Teal'c opened his eyes to look at O'Neill. "I will do so at once."

Jack sighed, knowing there was no point in arguing with Teal'c. He moved down the hall.

The two young women were still asleep, as was Indiana. Lady Croft was however up, lacing up her boots. She looked up at him as he stopped outside her door.

"Hey Jack." She smiled at him.

"Lara." He smirked. "Sleep well?"

"Quite well, thank you."

Nodding, Jack stepped across the hall. The room opposite had Carter and Regina within, both of whom were sitting up, clearly having just woken.

"Sir..." Carter groaned.

"At ease Major." Jack reassured her, before looking at the red-haired Regina. "You okay?"

"I will be, if someone could rustle up some coffee." Regina's voice was muffled by her hands as she rubbed her face.

"I think we could all use some." Jack quipped.

X-X-X-X-X-X

Couple of hours later, and nearly everyone was down in the lounge area, finishing off a breakfast-lunch. Paula was still in her bed, while Teal'c was still acting as lookout.

Looking around at the gathered people, Regina noted however was looking far more alert and healthy than they had when they'd all staggered downstairs. Fortunately Sarah Harding had known how to cope, and had settled down within the kitchen and set to preparing food for all eighteen of them.

Now, after wolfing down bacon, scrambled eggs and half a gallon of coffee, Regina felt human again. Settling back, she looked over the others, wondering who was going to take charge of this motley band of survivors. In her mind, there was only one person here who could do so.

As if on cue, Colonel O'Neill leaned forwards in his chair. "Okay, now that we're all awake and up, we need to take stock. What do we have, what state are we in, and what do we do now?"

For a few moments everyone was silent, looking at each other. Then Doc Fraiser sighed.

"Colonel, we're not really in a position to do much right now. Nearly all of us are wounded in one way or another. We need time to rest and recuperate a bit before we can do anything."

O'Neill nodded, in the manner of one not liking what he was hearing but knowing the truth of it.

Rick leaned forwards now. "There's not much we can do really. I need to take a look at it to be sure, but I doubt that minibus out back will get us much further. Certainly not far enough for us to be safe."

O'Neill grunted. "So what do we have then? Weaponry?"

Carter was the first, unlatching her P90 from her vest and laying it on the bar. As she began to add her remaining clips, everyone else began to do the same. Quickly a large and varied collection of weapons began to be compiled there. Carter disappeared for a minute before returning with another set, including a SPAS-12. Clearly she had gathered Teal'c's other weapons. Regina noted that his staff weapon thing was not in her hands.

At last the last gun was laid out. Regina allowed her eyes to run over the collection, her Weapon Specialist training allowing her to recognise the bulk of them.

In addition to the weapons carried by her own team, there were a pair of P90's, a SPAS-12, another simpler pump-action shotgun, an ancient .45 Springfield rifle, another MP-5, six 9mm Beretta's, three Walters, a five inch Smith & Weston, and two honking .357 Desert Eagles. There were also four strange looking devices, made of a dark metal that didn't look like steel in three sections. On top of that there were a handful of grenades, a dozen combat knifes, one fancy crossbow, a couple of sharp sticks of wood and a set of throwing blades. It was quite an arsenal, but when she looked over the ammo supply, it didn't look so good.

From the expression on his face, O'Neill wasn't too happy either. "Ah great." He muttered. Sighing, he looked up at the others. "Okay, here's what we'll do..."

X-X-X-X-X-X

Carter looked at the other woman. "So... you guys are time travellers?"

She and the red-haired Regina were in the middle of removing the 9mm rounds from the Beretta clips and manually feeding them into the much larger MP-5 clips. It was laborious and time-consuming, but it made sense to do, and it took up the time. While they had worked, the two had started talking, sharing past experiences. Regina had just admitted that she and her team had slipped into the past.

Regina sighed. "Yeah... it wasn't planned. A crazy scientist came up with a theory to generate unlimited, clean power. A branch of the military, I think ours, funded him in secret to turn it into a fixed site weapon system. But what he actually created was a time displacement machine." Looking up, she could see a sparkle in Carters eye, though there was a note of concern in there too.

"Sounds like something Kinsey would have supported..." She muttered. Regina wondered who she meant, but then Carter looked at her directly. "How did it work?"

Regina shrugged. "I don't know myself really. All I know for sure is during an overload, the surrounding area is displaced in time." She looked sharply at the blond woman. "Why so interested?"

Carter shrugged. "I'm a qualified theoretical astrophysicist. Plus with my involvement with the Stargate Program, I've been exposed to technology way beyond anything we've got in general use right now." She then smirked. "And I've had time travel experience myself."

Regina raised a red eyebrow, a smile twitching at the corner of her lips. "Really? When did you end up?"

"1969." Carter laughed. "I ended up wearing these yellow tinted sunglasses and an ankle length rainbow skirt, just so I could fit in."

Regina chuckled with her. "Well, I had to 'dance' with dinosaurs. Fortunately not in a fur bikini, thank god."

Carter smirked. "Well, I'm sure the guys would have loved to see that." Regina threw a mock glare at her, but the smile at the corner of her mouth gave her away.

X-X-X-X-X-X

That afternoon passed quietly for them, something that O'Neill was grateful for. They all needed time to recover their strength. With limited supplies, wounded and no transport, the best thing they could do was lay low for a while.

They were not idle by any means. They had searched the pub from top to bottom, looking for anything of use. In the course of this they had turned up another old shotgun along with several boxes of ammo. Clearly a relic from the old days. Dusting it off, Regina had stripped it down and cleaned it up for use.

The tank of the minibus had, with a constant watch on the walls, been drained of its diesel fuel, which had been poured into a half dozen empty wine bottles, mixed with some white spirit. Strips of cloth torn from the tables plugged the ends, with a small piece trailing down into the fuel. The mixture wouldn't burn well, but they would be usable petrol bombs.

A couple of the small round tables in the bar area had been stripped of their legs, which had then had combat knifes attached to the ends to form crude spears. Not to be out done, the young Summers woman had taken the now legless tables and attached handholds on the undersides, making them into semi-usable shields.

Throughout the day they had kept someone on watch in the master bedroom. Gail took over from Teal'c, and was subsequently replaced by O'Neill himself. Rick had been seconded to Janet as she went round checking over everyone's injuries and doing what she could.

As evening began to fall, Jack called for another meeting. Sitting around the lounge area, Jack looked them all over. They had all taken advantage of the showers installed on the upper floor, originally for guests renting a room overnight, and had washed and cleaned up. Jack himself certainly felt more human after a chance to wash the dried blood and dirt off.

"Right. So, we have food, water and guns. But we don't have ammo or transport. We need to get both. Carter, pass the map."

Silently Carter passed across a street map of the town. Originally a leaflet for tourists, Jack had asked everyone to add in notes highlighting buildings and stores of use to them. Lara and Grant had contributed the most, as they had been in town the longest. Carter had overlaid the exit points for the underground tunnels the Goa'uld possessed dinosaurs had used. After a few seconds looking it over, O'Neill tapped one of Lara's notations.

"This hunting store should have what we need, or can use." He looked up. "Carter, Morden, Bond... Regina, Grant, Jones, Lara and myself will head out and see what we can scavenge. The rest of you hold down the fort while we're gone."

Ten minutes later the eight of them were ready to move. After a couple of last minute instructions to Teal'c, they headed out into the early evening.


	23. Development

Sorry for the delay with this chapter. Real Life(tm) and other stories are sucking up my time. Still, I've nearly finished a first draft of this story, so hopefully I'll be able to upload the rest soon...

* * *

Chapter 23

Hand's resting on her guns, Lara moved down the street, every sense on high alert. A couple of feet to her side and slightly ahead, Regina moved like a ghost, SAW raised and ready. The fellow Brit Bond was a little further ahead, off to her right. Now he moved with lethal precision and intent. During the day he'd been charming, in a roguish, old fashioned way, his words perfectly innocent on the surface but with a layer of innuendo underneath.

But now he had clearly switched gears, and now he stalked like a predator.

Behind her was Jack O'Neill, Carter ever at his side. Lara wondered idly if they would ever get together. She'd seen the bound between them that went beyond fellow soldiers and friendship. Morden was just behind them, shotgun to hand. Lara didn't know him, but he was clearly devoted to that wounded kid.

Guarding the rear were Indy and Dr Grant. Neither looked comfortable standing in as soldiers, working alongside such highly trained professionals.

Looking around, Lara could help but feel saddened by the change that had overcome the town. Just the other day this street, and the others like it, would have been bustling with the locals moving about their daily lives. Hawkers would have been trying to draw in tourists to their wares, locals would have jabbering away at each other in Spanish, and the whole town would be jumping.

Now though, everything was silent, deserted. Overturned and wrecked cars were scattered along the road and pavements like dead animals. The only sounds were the low wind whistling through open doors and their own footsteps.

What was the most disturbing thing though was that the bodies she'd expected were gone. Dried blood stains showed where the local people had fallen, but the bodies were gone. Where, she didn't like to consider.

They turned down a side street, the buildings closing in. With night coming the narrow street was dark, and every one of them gripped their weapons a little tighter. None of them dared risk a light, not yet.

Lara now eased ahead, since she knew where the store was. Eyes jumping between various dark outlines, she led the others down. Then she saw it.

"This is it." She half-whispered, stopped just in front of the open door way. The door itself lay within the store.

"Good. Let's be quick about this." O'Neill spoke softly as the rest of them came up. He and Carter moved in together, flicking the small torches attached to their P90's on.

After a few moments, Lara heard O'Neill mutter. "Ah crap."

Exchanging a puzzled and worried glance with Regina, she stepped inside. Reaching into her pack, she pulled out and light one of her heavy duty glow sticks.

The Yellow-orange light revealed carnage. Shelves had been toppled, desks smashed. Broken glass was spread all across the floor.

The shop had already been ransacked. Violently.

O'Neill muttered a curse under his breath, then sighed. "Maybe they missed something..."

Slowly and carefully they picked over the mess. It was made doubly difficult as they had to use as little light as possible. Within minutes, they all had small cuts on their fingertips.

While the military types swept the outer store area, Lara moved deeper in, towards the rear. The damage was a little less back here, but the shelves were just as ransacked. Sigh in defeat, she turned to go back... only to see Bond crouched down, gaze fixed to the floor.

"Found something?" She asked, stepping closer.

"Maybe..." He muttered, gesturing her closer. As the light from her stick peeled back the darkness, she could see a rug on the floor by where he was crouched. She watched as he reached down and took a hold of the edge, lift the rug up and off to one side, the tinkling of glass chips falling against each other quite loud in the quiet.

Beneath where the rug had been was a trapdoor, with a notch in the floorboard for a thick and sturdy looking padlock.

"Well well, a hidden room." She commented as she crouched down besides him. "Oldest trick in the book."

"Still a good one." Bond reached down and fingering the padlock. "Hmm... combination lock and an old fashioned key... don't see many of these..."

Lara sighed, counting the number of tumblers. "We'll never figure out the combination."

He smirked. "Who needs the combination?" he asked, unlatching his watch." After adjusting a couple of the knobs, he held the watch down close to the padlock. Lara watched, curious.

She jumped a little though when a fine, near invisible red laser beam leapt from the one knob and began to slice through the padlock.

"Mind bringing the others over Lady Croft?" Bond asked in a normal tone.

"Uh... Sure." She answered, a little freaked out.

X-X-X-X-X-X

Willow stood in the doorway to the master bedroom, staring at the huge Teal'c. To the eye, he was just a man, albeit a massively built, hugely imposing man. There was no doubt in her mind that if he were of the mind to, he could snap her in two like a twig.

Yet there was something about him that was not normal. Beyond the gold looking stamp on his forehead.

"Is there something you wish to ask me?" His deep voice startled her. How had he known she was there?

"Oh, it's nothing really..." Willow said quietly as she took a few steps closer. When she stopped a few feet away, Teal'c turned his head to look at her, eyes half closed. There was an intensity to his look that sent shivers up her spine. There was no malice there, just a cold, hard assessment.

"Well... you see..." She faltered under that penetrating, impassive stare. "You don't seem like the others..."

Teal'c looked back out side, drawing in a deep breath. "I am Jaffa. Bred to serve a false god." He paused. "A dead false god." There was a barely detectable note of satisfaction in his tone.

"He... it was evil?"

Teal'c looked at her once more. In his eyes Willow could see a raging fire. "The Goa'uld take humans as their hosts, and rule many worlds through tyranny, fear and false religion. Each System Lord controlled vast armies of Jaffa and fleets of warships, each capable of destroying the surface of this world with ease. For many hundreds of years the Goa'uld ruled the galaxy. It has only been within the last seven years that hope and the dream of freedom have returned. The people of your world have done more to free the galaxy in the last five years than anyone else in the last five hundred."

Willow could not prevent her mouth from hanging open. Fighting against demons, vampires and other supernatural creatures was one thing, but beings from another planet? All of a sudden she felt very small, and useless. With Buffy her abilities allowed her to help the normally impetuous Slayer. But here and now...

"Do not concern yourself with the others." Teal'cs words cut into her thoughts. "They are all strong warriors. And once they return we will thwart this Goa'uld plot, just like we have all the other plans to destroy this world."

Willow's eyes snapped open. "All this... was caused by one of them?"

Teal'c nodded. "Indeed. The dinosaurs we have fought have been taken as hosts, granting them even greater resilience and strength. They are a formidable foe."

Willow nodded, a lot of pieces falling into place. Then the full implications of what Teal'c had said sank in.

"Oh..."

X-X-X-X-X-X

Carter couldn't help but smile a little as she watched Regina. It was clear on her face that the Weapon Specialist in her was not happy with the way the weapons Bond had discovered had been stored. Most were dusty, jammed up with old grease and gunk.

Still, some should be useable, and fortunately, the owner of the store had taken more care of the ammo than the guns. There wasn't a lot in the tiny storage area, but enough to make their situation a little more sustainable.

Regina seemed set on cleaning everything there and then, but O'Neill made a executive call: get back to the tavern first, then sort out the good stuff.

Working as quickly and as quietly as they could, they began to load up backpacks with ammo and guns. Most of what they found was obsolete US equipment and Russian exports.

All too soon they had emptied the small hidden chamber. All told there were two dozen weapons, an even split of rifles and handguns.

Loaded down as they were, they made good time moving back towards the tavern. Only this time they had more attention focused behind them than in front of them.

All fearing a screeching howl that heralded an attack by the smaller creatures, the sounds of staff weapon discharges took them by surprise.

"Aw crap..." O'Neill sighed before reaching for his radio. "Teal'c, report."

"_All quiet here O'Neill."_

O'Neill frowned. "Then where..." he trailed off. "T, keep an eye out for any movement near you." Releasing the radio, he gripped his P90 a little tighter. "Let's check this out."

Quickly they started moving again, weapons held a little higher. As they advanced they heard more staff weapons fire, intermittent and muffled.

Ahead a trio of bolts sped past the entrance to the side street they were on, hammering into the side of a building. Several more bolts shot past, not quite masking the anguished growl that came from up the street... the direction from which the staff blasts were coming from.

There was a rapid volley of blasts, the impact sounds coming almost directly after the discharge, telling them that those weapons were being fired at close range.

Reaching into a pocket on his vest, O'Neill pulled out an extendable compact periscope. Extending it out to the side, he took a look around the corner.

It took a moment for him to figure out what he was seeing. A group of five Jaffa were stood in a loose semi-circle, facing inwards towards a burnt out car. On either end of the line a raptor stood, foreclaws flexing and jaws slightly open. Their attention too was fixed on the burnt out car... or rather, the figure beyond it.

The central Jaffa took a step forwards. "Re'Mana'ta, se'ough' kek! Fa'rou sa'll ous!"

'_Too bad we don't have Daniel to translate...' _Carter thought. But she could make a good a guess.

Then the figure behind the car spoke. _"Rehesss en'haaass, Kek vennn,nork!" _The words were clearly Gou'ald, despite some of the sounds being drawn out. There was also a low growl to them that was odd... But what came through loud and clear was the defiance behind the words.

Jack sighed then looked at the others. Motioning with his fingers, he directed them to places behind the mixed group.

"Kel var san'ofa Goa'uld?" The lead Jaffa bellowed as they got into place.

The figure now stood upright, and Carter was barely able to restrain a gasp. It was another raptor! The eyes glowed as it looked directly at the Jaffa.

"_En'Haassss vrn Goa'uld! Ell Tok'raaa!" _The raptor spoke in its raspy speech. _"I Die Free!"_

Carter looked across at O'Neill, who grimaced before raising his gun to the ready. The others followed suit.

The four staff weapons were levelled and cracked, but as the lead Jaffa opened his mouth there was a deafening gunshot. The one raptor was set flying into the wall... in two pieces. A double shotgun blast knocked two Jaffa sprawling, while the other three jerked as their armour sparked on the back as they were hammered with rounds. The second raptor was also pushed back as a stream of heavy rounds slammed into it. Carter and O'Neill both retargeted the Jaffa that Indy and Grant had struck, swiftly bringing them down. The last one collapsed under the hammering Bond and Lara were subjecting him too.

"Secure those weapons." O'Neill ordered, before gesturing to Carter. Together they rounded the ruined car, to find the other raptor had dropped to the ground, breathing heavily.

"It's hurt sir." Carter stated as she looked over the beast. The blast wound in its right flank, just before the leg, was clearly visible. Gashes in the creatures flesh appeared as glistening marks on its body.

Slowly the long, lean and deadly head lifted, and looked right at her. _"Maajor Carter..." _It spoke in raspy, but passable English.

"You know me?" She asked, a little stunned.

"_Wee met... briefly, when you and your team firssst came looking for usss..." _The raptor shivered. _"I worked with Martuf for many yearsss, and of late I have worked for your father..." _The reptilian eyes flickered.

"Hang in there." O'Neill said more softly than Carter expected. He looked at the others, who had gathered the weapons from the fallen Jaffa, then back at the Tok'ra raptor. "Can you move?"

The raptor seemed to suck in a deep breath. _"I think so... with a little help..."_

"Good."


	24. Skirmish and Mysteries

Chapter 24

"It makes sense, when you think about it."

With most of the fighter types out, the others in their group had gathered in the lounge area once more. Teal'c was still standing watch, and Paula was still bed ridden. Right now the others were mainly resting as Rick and Daniel discussed what they had seen. Sarah Harding was also listening intently, though most of the others were sat torpidly.

"The raptor is one of the most dangerous and intelligent creatures to have ever walked the Earth. They're strong, fast, and resilient. And if these Gould's..."

"Goa'ulds." Daniel corrected lightly.

Rick waved a hand. "...whatever, are capable of what you say they are, then the raptor would seem to be the ideal creature to use as a sort of 'shock troop'."

"They certainly stack up well against other creatures we've encountered." Daniel commented.

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked, curious.

"Well..." Daniel breathed. "...The Unas have great strength and are very resilient. The Goa'uld used them as hosts and as slave labour until they discovered humans."

"So why the change?" Rick asked.

"The human body is 'easier to repair', apparently." Daniel shrugged. "They have a device that can bring a dead person back to life." Daniel shivered.

Buffy shivered too. "Okay, that is creepy."

"Yes... it's unsettling." Daniel half murmured.

Rick looked at him. "You've used this device?"

Daniel nodded. "It can heal even fatal injuries, though it can't replace lost body parts. We once found a sarcoughagus in which the Goa'uld, overthrown by his priests, had been sealed... along with a voracious predator."

No-one spoke for a few moments.

"He was eaten alive?" Rick asked, ashen faced.

"Well, the sarcoughagus would have healed him as much as it could, kept him alive, but... yeah."

"Okay, that is the _worst _way to go." Buffy stated.

Daniel smiled. "Jack said the same thing at the time."

As if summoned by his words, the radio on Daniel's shoulder crackled. _"Daniel, Teal'c come in!" _At the same time red lights blinked on the back of Gail and Ricks left hands.

"_O'Neill."_ Teal'c's voice emerged before Daniel could speak.

"_Prepare to give us covering fire, we're coming in hot!" _In the background those listening could hear the chatter of automatic weapons and the sounds of staff weapon fire. _"We've got a bunch of Jaffa on our asses!"_

Gail and Rick sprang up as best they could, gripping their weapons as they headed up stairs. Buffy also jumped up and headed for the front door, grabbing one of her shields as she did.

"_We will be ready O'Neill."_

"_Be advised, we have a wounded _Tok'ra _raptor with us. Tell Janet and Harding to get ready to treat this one."_

Stunned silence hung in the air after O'Neill's words as each one of them looked at each other. Was he seriously going to bring one of those beasts in here?

Daniel pressed the transmit button on his radio. "Uh... Jack?"

"_You heard me Daniel!"_

"Oh... kay." Daniel muttered before looking over at Janet. The Doctor shrugged before pulling out another pair of surgical gloves.

Upstairs Teal'c stared out the window, staff weapon levelled. Hearing movement he glanced to his right to see Rick and Gail hobble in. After a silent nod of greeting, his attention returned to the streets ahead of him. Gail almost dropped into the seat to his right, while Rick moved around and took up a stance to his left.

Watching, Teal'c saw as a couple of golden bolts shot out of a side street on the northern street. Without a word all three men turned their weapons towards that end, just as set of figures darted out from that street and turned towards them. Regina, identified because of her hair, fired back around the corner in short bursts as others figures made it round.

Gail's eyes narrowed as he saw the unmistakable loping form of a raptor being guided by two of their own. Yet he kept his mouth shut. For now.

As one slim figure came rolling around the bend Regina pulled back, following the others... two of which had turned and trained their weapons on the corner.

Another raptor emerged, this one unaided. Both the waiting figures opened up, the distinctive chatter of P90 fire audible even at this distance. Rick also took a shot, the crack of his older rifle deafening.

Teal'c however didn't flinch, and calmly began to lay down fire over the entrance to the side street. The distant Raptor wavered and collapsed, but more figures were coming around the corner, more raptors and some Jaffa.

Down at the front door, Buffy watched in amazement as the highly trained soldiers fell back towards her, covering each other in turn. From above her a steady stream of golden yellow pulses streaked out to strike behind them, as well as the repeated cracks of a rifle firing. Easing the door open a little more, she watched for any other hostiles.

The figures were close enough now that Teal'c could make them out. Morden, Regina, O'Neill, Carter, Lara and Bond were taking turns covering each other as they fell back. Grant and Jones were each side of the Raptor, giving it support. It appeared that the creatures' right leg was not functioning correctly.

Despite the withering fire they were taking, the pursuing Jaffa and Goa'uld raptors continued to run their team down. The outside wall of the tavern was struck again and again with staff blasts, causing both Rick and Gail to flinch and duck when one came close. Teal'c however did not flinch, and continued to strike back.

They reached the intersection, where they paused. There was no cover between where they were and the tavern. Buffy watched as O'Neill made some hand movements, and then he and the other fighters began to fire back at their pursuers while Grant, Jones and the raptor moved towards her. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the doors open hard.

"Jack, they're in!" She heard Daniel Jackson call into his radio.

After a moment the others outside abandoned their positions and ran for the doorway. Buffy flattened herself against the left door as they sprinted in. Morden was the last, and she could see him reaching for the door edge. Understanding his intentions, she pulled on the door behind her, yanking it closed. Dylan closed his half a couple of seconds later.

The few remaining Jaffa tried to rush forward to reach the entrance, but sustained fire from the balcony stopped them dead. With three dropped in as many meters, they feel back and melted back into the ruined city.

Hearing the sounds of weapons fire die away, O'Neill heaved a deep sigh of relief as he tried to get his breath back. He looked over to were Janet and Dr Harding were stood, looking at the Raptor they'd brought in. Janet was already moving forwards, but Harding was stock still, fear clear in her eyes.

"This one won't bite Doc." He told her. "Doubt he could right now."

Sure enough, the raptor was all but passed out, its flanks heaving.

"Okay, let's get... it, into the office." Janet ordered, her tone broking no argument.

Dylan Morden set his gun down on the counter then, with an understandable amount of trepidation, moved to pick up the raptor under its shoulders. Teal'c, having come down from above, took a firm grip around the base of the long tail. Together they carried the wounded creature through and into the small office on the ground floor.

X-X-X-X-X-X

Janet sighed as she examined the wounded raptor. When she'd heard about having to treat a raptor, Janet had cleared everything off the large desk that sat in the centre, making a large work area for her with space all around the edge. A couple of thick blankets covered the hard desk. Large as the desk was, the raptor's tail extended over the edge by almost a foot.

Sarah and Rick were assisting her, though both had been reluctant to do so. But a stern look from O'Neill had been enough to get Rick to help, and Sarah couldn't help but be curious about the raptors physique.

The deep wound in the right flank was most definitely caused by a staff blast; the scent of charred meat still clung to the area. But there were other wounds, some almost as serious. Slash and bite marks were all across its back and thighs, marks of grappling with other raptors.

It was also clear that the symbiote within the raptor was working to repair the damage, but it was slow going.

Thinking of which... Janet frowned as she examined the raptors neck and spine. No sign of an entry mark. Not too surprising really given the tough skin...

Acting on a suspicion, she moved round to the raptors front. She'd given it a high dose of painkillers and sedatives, and surprisingly it had fallen asleep. She figured the symbiote must have let it succumb to the drugs. However, she knew, in the back of her mind, that what she was about to do was risky.

Crouching down, she brought her head level with the raptors. Taking a gently grip, she eased the jaws open.

Despite her professionalism and experience, she couldn't help the small gasp that escaped her lips as she stared at the rows of razor sharp teeth that lined the jaws. Each one was scalpel thin on the cutting edge, but broader and thicker near the centre. These were teeth any predator would be proud of.

Using a spatula she'd borrowed from the kitchen, she shifted the tongue to the side until she could examine the back of the raptors throat. She nodded to herself when she saw the abrasions. The symbiote had affected entry there. Quite brave considering the set of teeth it had to get past first. Standing back up, she allowed the jaws to close once more, using the spatula to stop the tongue getting caught by the teeth. She doubted either being would enjoy finding out that she'd let it bite its own tongue to ease her curiosity.

She looked over at Sarah Harding, who was just finishing the application of the burn cream that Janet had handed her. It was the same stuff she used for all staff weapon wounds on the soldiers at the SGC. Hopefully it would help the raptor – and the symbiote – as much as it did the wounded airmen and marines.

Nodding to the two of them, she slipped out and back into the main bar area. Walking round, she entered the lounge where everyone else was. Regina was sat at one of the tables, a mass of weapon parts sprayed out in front of her. A grease stained rag in her hand showed that she'd been cleaning the weapons they'd recovered.

O'Neill looked up as she entered. "How's the patient doc?" He asked lightly.

"He'll pull through. Most of its injuries are already healing up." Janet yanked off her gloves. "The only serious injury is the staff wound to the flank, but it's not as deep as it would if it had hit a person. The ribs are quite close together, and there's a lot of cartilage between them. That took the brunt of the blast."

Over at her table Regina huffed. "Explains why they were so tough."

Janet nodded. "Tough hides, high muscle density, and with some seriously sharp claws. Oh, I can see why the Goa'uld would what to use them as hosts."

O'Neill nodded, not liking what he was hearing. "So... how long before he can talk again?"

Janet shrugged. "Hard to say. I gave it a dose of painkillers and enough sedative to knock out a horse. It's asleep right now... I think the symbiote's focusing on healing the damage rather than keeping the host awake." She explained to Carter's confused expression.

O'Neill looked at her blankly. "So you don't know?"

Janet sighed. "No, I don't."


	25. Peeling Back the Darkness

Chapter 25

Two yellow-green eyes blinked open. The mind controlling them struggled for a few moments to get them focused; it was used to handling human eyes. Mar'tan checked on his hosts mind; sure enough, the sedative the SGC doctor had administered was still enough to keep it out for a couple more hours. For that Mar'tan was grateful. The raptor was a fiercely intelligent creature, right up there with humans. However it was also a deeply instinctive creature, and it was in no doubt about what it was. It was a hunter, plain and simple. Mar'tan knew that he had to maintain control; letting the raptor loose would be very bad for his human allies.

Feeling out the nervous system of the raptor, he eased the legs over the edge of the table he was resting on. He had to fight his own, learned instinct to bring the heels down, instead standing, in effect, on tiptoe. Fortunately, the Raptors own instincts and coordination made up for his inexperience, and he only wavered a little.

Standing there, he checked himself over, chuckling to himself as he realised just how flexible the raptors neck was. The staff wound on his flank still looked ugly, but it wasn't a mass of charred flesh anymore. There were signs of healing there. The various slashes in his tough hide had all sealed up and scabbed over. Couple of days and they'd be gone.

Facing the door out of the room, Mar'tan raised his snout and sniffed, letting the raptors strong sense of smell work. He was still amazed at how much detail he could get just with smell. It took a few moments for him to sort out the details. There were eighteen distinctive scents, and he realised he could tell each one apart. The scent of one of the females, for instance, was both young and tainted with blood, telling him that she was wounded, badly. Maybe he could help, to ease their concerns...

He froze, then cocked an eye back to view his own back. The satchels he'd roughly thrown across his back was gone. He vaguely recalled them still there when he'd staggered into this building, but he couldn't be sure. The pain at that moment was reaching a point that not even he could endure.

Exhaling partly in frustration and partly in resignation, he stepped towards the door. Reaching out, he tried to open it. It took him a few tries before he managed to get his foreclaws to grip the round knob enough to turn it. Hooking his claws into the edge, he pulled it open slowly...

...and came snout to muzzle with an armed Zat'nika'tel.

Mar'tan froze, barely daring to breath. He understood all too well that these people likely didn't trust him. After all, he could be a Gou'ald pretending to be a Tok'Ra... not that he expected those not of the SGC to understand the difference.

Ever so slowly, he lifted his eyes to the persons face. The impassive features of Teal'c stared back at him, the zat unwavering.

"_You caaan put zhat away Teeel'c. I do not wissssh harm oon anny of you." _Mar'tan struggled to get the human words out clearly. The raptors mouth and vocal cords had not evolved to create such sounds.

"That remains to be seen." Was Teal'cs reply. "This way."

Sensing that the door to his left went outside, Mar'tan eased his long body to the right, moving slowly and carefully, least he give the wrong impression. Butting the door open, he stepped into the main bar area. Even before he did, he could smell that most of the others were gathered there.

Over a dozen people were sat or stood in the large room, waiting for him, most of them armed in some fashion. Mar'tan knew that even though they were mainly primitive projectile weapons, they could do a lot of damage very quickly. Something he was very keen to avoid. Being shot to bita once already today was enough for him, thank you.

"Glad you could join us." O'Neill quipped from behind his own zat as Teal'c slid out from behind Mar'tan and moved to his right, clearing the line of fire. "Now, got any way to prove you are who you say you are?"

Mar'tan sighed as best he could. _"Onnly zhat which I know." _His sharp eyesight spotted something near Carter. _"Uou haave my bagss?"_

Carter nodded, pulling the flap open.

"_Wiithin you will fiiind a hand deevisse, a heeealing unnit, aand my communniiicator. I ussed the lassst to make my reportsss." _After a nod from O'Neill, Carter looked within the bags. One by one she withdrew the items named.

"Nothing else sir." She reported.

O'Neill kept his gaze on Mar'tan, clearly not shifted either way.

"_I know, you require more proof. Verrry well. Maaajor Caarter, I know it wassss you who adminissstered the faaatal ssshot for Mar'tuf. I mourned hisss losssss, but I took comfort that hisss friendsss were the onessss to end hissss torment. I would have done the ssssame."_

Carter closed her eyes, turning her head away a little. Mar'tan could feel her grief, for it was his too.

"_I alsssoo know of your unplaaaned inter-galllatic trip from your faather. And what happeeenned to Teeel'c..." _Teal'c jaw tightened ever so subtly.

"_I allsslso know that it wasss us who causssed the dessstruction of Netu, from which you were ressscuing your father and Selmak." _ He looked at O'Neill, who shifted a little. Mar'tan lowered his head, realising that looking at someone right now would only unsettle them. _"And I know zhat you yourssself O'Neiil came very clossse to being a hossst for one of Hathoor's ssservantss, and how it wasss adverted."_

"Al'right, that's enough." O'Neill spoke before he could continue. With a 'click' his zat folded back up to its storage mode as it disarmed. Mar'tan allowed himself to breathe a little easier, as slowly the others eased off their weapons, though several looked reluctant. "So, how'd you wind up in this mess with us lowly humans?"

"_I wassss a deep cover operative."_ Mar'tan began, allowing himself to sink into a chair. It took him a few moments to figure out how to sit comfortably. _"I infiltrated the lowwwer levelsss of Anubissess followersss, posssing asss a minor Goa'uld. After the insssident with the asssteroid, Selmak desscided that we needed to have intel from within about any plansss of hissss regarding Earth."_

"Let me guess, just a wild guess, but that's where those other dinos come in?"

Mar'tan nodded slowly. _"Correct. Rak'hesh is power hungry, and helped work on the Kull warrrriors. He sssuggessted the use of Unasss at firssst, but wasss over-ruled. After you developed the meansss to fight them, Rak'hesh wasss given a sssecond chanssse._

"_His inssstructionss were to dessstroy you from within, without eventsss being linked back to Anubisss. He usssed a cloaked Alkessh to arrive on thisss world, bringing with him a handful of Jaffa and myssself, asss a Technical Asssisstant." _He bowed his head low, almost to the bare wooden floor boards. _"Sssadly, I wasss unable to find a meansss of ssssabotaging the work without exposssing mysssself. I did not even learn of the creaturesss he planned to ussse until barely a day ago."_

Silence fell for a moment, before O'Neill asked the question on everyone's minds. "So how'd you get caught?"

"_I made an early report, hoping that by relaying the information I had dissscovered, I could warn you and give you time to prepare. However, I was disssscovered during my transssmisssion. After ssserveral minutesss pursuit, I was caught." _He shivered, the end of his tail quivering. _"The human guardsss zhat had caught desssided to dissspose of me... by feeding me to the creaturessss."_

"Ouch." O'Neill winced. Several of the others were also looking sick.

"That's when you acquired your new host?" Carter asked softly. Mar'tan just nodded, the memories too painful.

After a few seconds O'Neill spoke again. "So... what can you tell us about what's going on?"

Mar'tan shook himself, throwing off the terrible memories. _"Rak'hesssh is, asss I sssaid, hungry for power. He'sss gained Anubissesss trussst, and from what I overheard, He'sss hoping that Earth will become hisss new powerbase. The queen he'sss been working with isss willing to ssswitch her allegiance. I sssusspect that he'll ssstart looking to improve the beassstss asss either hossstss, or as a replacccement for the Jaffa. I know he'sss already consssidering refitting the weaponsss usssed by the Kull Warriorsss to fit the raptorsss."_

"Oh great, that's all we need." A red-haired women snapped. "Raptors' with guns."

"Sweet image though..." O'Neill muttered. He fingered the Hand Device and healing unit. "Can you work these?"

Slowly Mar'tan got up and stepped over, making sure to keep his limbs relaxed. He could still see apprehension in many of their eyes. Bringing his left arm up, he allowed his claws to clink against the devices. _"The Healing devissse, I think so. The Hand Device... unlikely."_

O'Neill nodded. "Mind using your voodoo powers with that to get us back on our feet?"

X-X-X-X-X-X

Warmth spreading through her belly drew Paula to consciousness. A low humming sound filled the air, coming from just above her. As she lay there, she actually could feel her strength and health returning. Her eyelids flickered.

"She's coming around." That woman, the one who'd tended to her, told her not to give up, spoke.

The humming died away, taking with it the source of the warmth. Forcing her eyes to open, she caught a glimpse of someone backing away before the dark-red haired woman and her father filled her vision.

"Papa?" She croaked, her throat dry.

"Paula..." He half whispered, stroking her hair while the women examined her stomach... where she'd been kicked by the allosaur.

"Better..." Paula heard the woman mutter. Blinking, she pushed herself upright, amazed that it didn't hurt. Glancing down, she gasped when she saw unbroken skin. Surely she should have a gaping hole in her belly?

"Whoa, take it easy for the moment." The woman told her, putting her hands on Paula's shoulders. "You're still going to be a little weak for a day or so." She looked towards her father. "Lt Morden can fill you on everything." With that she left the small room, closing the door behind her.

Paula looked at her father in confusion. "What did she mean?"

X-X-X-X-X-X

Lara was just having her own shoulder treated by Mar'tan when they both heard Paula's yell of "WHAT!?!" come from within the closed room. Lara chuckled but didn't say anything, while Mar'tan focused on using the device.

It was tough though, as he also had to rein in the raptor's mind too. The scent of blood hung in the air, driving the predator within wild. Mar'tan had to again and again slap it down, stop it making a play for control. He didn't like to do it – it was the same thing the Goa'uld did to their hosts – but at that moment he had no choice. He had made some progress in reasoning with the raptor though, and he hoped that sometime in the future it would be willing to curb its own instincts and work alongside humans. But for now, the bloodlust was too strong to resist, and Mar'tan had to keep it repressed.

X-X-X-X-X-X

O'Neill looked about the lounge area, a tiny smile lurking at the corners of his mouth. Almost everyone was there, and in fighting form. Only Teal'c was absent, standing watch once more. Mar'tan had gone over everyone with the healing device, restoring them all to full health. Regina had proved to be a genius with the guns, and now every one of them had at least two they could use. Between himself and the other trained people, they'd given each of the others a quick and dirty lesson on handling firearms. They mainly had zats and shotguns, ideally suited for them. The rest carried the more deadly weaponry.

Throughout the day he'd watched them all, gauging their moods and feelings. He knew what his team had to do now, and he was certain that they'd get at least some backup. But he wondered...

"Okay folks. Now that we're all back on our feet and able, it's time to decide." He started, his words causing the others to still and fall silent. Even the Tok'ra raptor lifted his head from where he'd been resting.

"My team is going to go in and take out that snake at the heart of this disaster. The rest of you, it's up to you what you do. Stay here, make a break for the outside, whatever." Sitting back, he watched as the others looked at each other. Secretly, he knew that his team would at least have Bond, the Tok'ra and Regina's team as backup, but it was the others that he was not sure about.

Gail stood up, looking O'Neill in the eye. "We're with you."

"_Asss am I."_ The Tok'ra growled, his eyes narrow.

Bond shrugged. "I feel like doing a spot of big game hunting." He said, hefting an AK.

Nodding in acceptance, O'Neill looked over towards the others. These people were not military. They were just normal people caught up in all this.

Before any of them could speak though, the radio on O'Neill's shoulder squawked. _"O'Neill!"_

"Ya Teal'c?"

"_Many Jaffa and dinosaurs approach our position."_

For a moment nobody moved, then they came alive, snatching up weapons and moving out of the lounge. O'Neill moved to the door and opened it a crack, peering out.

Two large phalanxes of Jaffa marched towards them, one down each street. On either flank of the Jaffa loped along packs of raptors, while stalking along behind them were towering Allosaurs. The groups halted a block away, silent.

Glancing over his shoulder, O'Neill saw Carter and Regina close by. Each window was also manned by one of their number.

Looking out ahead, O'Neill saw one phalanx open up... and a man in gold armour stalked forwards.

"Is that..." the quietly spoken fear filled words prompted him to look to his left. There the young redhead was stood looking out, eyes wide and the zat she held was shaking.

"Yeah, that's the one." He told her comfortingly.

The Goa'uld stopped on the far corner, glaring towards the tavern. _**"Surrender now, and you may live. Resist, and you will all die... slowly."**_ He bellowed in that resonating, alien voice.

O'Neill couldn't help it: he just had to make some witty come back. Sticking his head out the door, he looked at the Goa'uld.

"Come again?"

With a thunderous look on his face, the Goa'uld took a couple of steps forward. _**"Surrender, or all of you will die!"**_

O'Neill glanced back into the tavern, then looked back. "Got a better option?"

Behind him Carter smiled even as she rolled her eyes. That was typical O'Neill, taunting the Bad Guys with witty banter.

Ra'hesh was close enough that they could see his face, and he looked pissed. _**"O'Neill. I know your face. That means that the rest of SG1 must be in there too..."**_

O'Neill smirked to himself for a moment. "Yea, there's hundreds of us in here. Say, who are you again? I'm terrible with names."

Ra'hesh scowled, then raised his left hand... which was shrouded in a Goa'uld hand device.

O'Neill snapped up his P90 and pulled the trigger, hoping to beat him to the punch. However, Ra'hesh's right arm whipped across and he slapped down on his left forearm. The Goa'uld personal shield snapped up, deflecting his bullets.

"Damn." O'Neill muttered. "Too far for a knife throw..." He muttered. Behind him, BuffY Summers frowned, then snatched up her crossbow.

O'Neill watched as Rak'hesh raised his arm, aiming... Something whizzed past his ear, and Rak'hesh lurched, a short piece of wood poking out from under his right arm.

Looking over his shoulder, O'Neill saw young Miss Summer prime her last bolt.

Outside, Rak'hesh glared at the tavern. _**"You will all die for your impudence!" **_He yelled, before backing away. _**"Cree Jaffa, Kra'sork, Hal'tak von ruo!"**_


	26. The Face of Evil

Chapter 26

The world descended into thunderous noise as they all opened up on the charging dinosaurs and the armoured men further back. The AK bucking in her hand, Regina hammered the oncoming pack, the high powered rounds punching deep. All around her everyone was firing away, a mix of human weaponry and those zat weapons. It was almost beautiful to watch those blue lightning bolts stab out, sending crackling tendrils over whatever they hit.

Several of the men toppled backwards, their armour sparking from impacts. From the sounds, Regina was able to tell that O'Neill and Carter were the ones taking them out.

Good thing too, she realised, ducking as a volley of golden yellow bolts sped towards her. Crouched below the level of the window, she heard the bolts hammer into the wall, sending tiny shivers running through it.

Looking about, she saw the young red-head, Willow, sat on the floor by the next window along, shaking like a leaf. The zat she held was clutched tightly in her pale hands, and her head was bowed. She jumped though when with a mighty roar Dylan fired his anti-tank rifle. She smirked slightly when she saw one of the Allosaurs head jerk backwards before the seventeen foot tall beast crashed to the ground.

The next few minutes were a blur as fire was exchanged between both sides. Staff blasts hammered the tavern, taking small chucks out of the walls but barely hurting the building. The raptors held back, the bodies of several of their fellows' proof that rushing forwards was suicide, even for them. The Allosaur's were hanging back too, clearly wary of Dylan's gun.

But the Jaffa however were relentless, even as more of them fell to their guns. Several took cover behind the corpses of fallen Allosaur's, allowing them to get closer.

And worryingly, they were running out of ammo. Short bursts were all they could do now. She'd seen O'Neill switch off to his own zat, saving the ammo for his P90.

Regina's own gun ran dry, but before she could snatch up another clip several staff weapons fired at her. She threw herself down, dropping the gun in the process. Above her the concentrated volley smashed into the wall, completely destroying the window and making a much larger hole in the wall.

Looking from the floor, she blinked a few times to try and clear the ringing in her head, but frozen when she saw the doors blown open, O'Neill and Carter sent flying ahead of the heavy door. Faster even than them was a ripple in the air that reached the bar and shattered every bottle and glass on and behind it. Her hearing returned to the sound of breaking glass.

O'Neill rolled onto his back before sitting up, a wince on his face. "Damn! Fall back upstairs!" He bellowed, bringing the P90 up and firing a long burst through the now barren doorway. The squeal of a wounded raptor could be heard.

Dragging her own MP-5's from her back, Regina hauled herself upright and began firing out through the hole where the window she had been stood at had been. The raptors were pushing forwards again, only now the fire was too thin to stop them. The first through the hole got both guns hammering it, and it collapsed half in and half out.

O'Neill stayed at the door way, counting off everyone past him. As Grant hurried past he stopped shooting to reach down and prime a grenade. Tossing it through the door, he turned and half ran towards the stairs, passing behind Regina who was stood before a hole, blazing away with both weapons.

Upstairs Rick and Jones flinched as an explosion went off just beneath them, but Teal'c didn't react. Instead he continued to fire out, hunting for the Jaffa. He could hear the sounds of others piling into the room behind him, but he ignored them.

A raptor suddenly leapt up from the ground, its feet landing on the handrail. Even Teal'c was startled at this incredible leap, but he didn't give it time to capitalise on the surprise. His first shot took it in the chest, the second in the neck.

It snarled, but Dylan shoved the barrel of his shotgun into its yawning mouth and pulled the trigger. The blast pitched the creature backwards off the balcony.

Before any of them could celebrate though a grey sphere, about the size of a grapefruit, arced over the balcony and the overturned table to thud into the carpet just behind them. Teal'c's eyes widened; he knew what that was.

"What the hell..." Was all Buffy got out before the entire room was washed out with a blinding white light and an ear splitting noise.

Out in the hall, at the top of the stairs, O'Neill heard the screaming noise. He looked up and saw the light shining out from around the corner. "Ah hell..." He muttered.

Around him the others didn't say anything, as another raptor had appeared at the base of the stairs. It quickly joined the three other dead ones on the floor, but as it fell an arm whipped round the corner below, sending a second grey sphere flying up towards them.

Rak'hesh looked down at the captives, dragged out of the battered tavern by his remaining Jaffa. This small band of humans – and that pesky Tok'ra! - were responsible for the death of most of his new army, and almost all of his Jaffa! Anger surged through him as he raised his hand, the jewel in the device glowing as he aimed at O'Neill's head...

He paused, then slowly lowered his arm. There were better ways to punish these upstarts.

"_**Bring them all."**_ He roared before stalking off. Behind him the Jaffa heaved up the nineteen prisoners, three working together to man-handle the raptor.

X-X-X-X-X-X

O'Neill woke to a splitting headache, blindness and shooting pains in his shoulders. Biting back a curse, he tried to work out where he was and what kind of crap they were in this time.

Working his arms, he quickly figured that he was locked in a set of manacles hanging from the ceiling. Thick, heavy chains led upwards.

"Hey..." He croaked. "Anyone else awake?"

"O'Neill." Teal'c spoke from somewhere over his right shoulder.

"Hey, Teal'c. Any idea where we are?"

"I believe we are imprisoned somewhere within Rak'hesh's base."

O'Neill was about to make a wise-crack comeback, but a feminine moan from somewhere ahead of him diverted his attention.

"Oh... what was that?" Regina spoke in slurred tones.

"A Gou'ald shock grenade. The blindness will pass." Teal'c supplied.

"Oh, thanks. That makes me feel a lot better." Regina replied with clear sarcasm. Jack chuckled in response. He was really beginning to like her.

Over the next few minutes everyone else came to as well. When his eyes were once more working right O'Neill looked about, seeking an escape route. Each and every one of them were locked into manacles suspended from the ceiling, their wrists held above their heads. The shorter members of their group, like Janet, Buffy and Paula, were stretched almost to the point where they were standing on tiptoe to keep their feet on the ground. As O'Neill had expected, they had been stripped of all weapons and gear, though Regina still had her armour. Likely the Jaffa couldn't figure out how to get it off her. They were also separated into two groups, the men in one cell and the women in another, facing them. The only one out of place was Carter, who was strung up alongside O'Neill. Mar'tan was locked in a small cage at the end of the room, barely able to move due to the bars around him.

As if summoned by his thoughts the door to his left opened, and a pair of Jaffa stomped in. O'Neill felt his guts coil. You were safe in a cell. It was when they came and took you out that you were in trouble.

Two Gou'ald raptors stalked in, their foot claws clinking against the stone floor. He saw Grant shiver at the sound, just as Rak'hesh himself strode in. He'd changed from the battle armour to ornate robes.

"_**The 'Mighty' SG1." **_He said, stopping before O'Neill and looking him in the eye with all the cruelty that the Gou'ald were known for.

O'Neill cocked his head. "Hey. How's it hanging?"

A muscle twitched in Rak'hesh's cheek. _**"You may jest now, but not for long, fool!"**_

"Really? How so?"

Rak'hesh smiled evilly. _**"In less than a day an Alkesh will arrive from my master. You and your team will be sent to meet my master in person. He wishes to punish you himself."**_

"Really?" O'Neill feigned surprise. "Doesn't trust you huh?"

Snarling, Rak'hesh belted O'Neill across the face. _**"My master may have decreed that only he can punish you himself, but he has granted me the pleasure of dealing with the rest of your group." **_He turned and ran his eyes over each of the female captives, licking his lips every so often. Janet and Willow felt distinctly unclean, while Regina just glared back with loathing. She _hated_ been an object of lust.

"_**Some of you might make excellent hosts." **_Rak'hesh turned back to look over the men. _**"The rest...well, my loyal son's hunger for man flesh..." **_He patted one of the raptors on the back of its neck.

"Well... that'd be different." O'Neill commented lightly, although his stomach was hopping madly.

"_**Trust me, you'll die begging that you had been taken as a host." **_ Rak'hesh laughed. Then his laughter died away as he stepped over to the caged Mar'tan. _**"Except for you, Tok'ra traitor! You I'll punish for the next thousand years!"**_

"_**Nofffhing you can doo too mee will breek mee." **_Mar'tan snarled back. _**"I will knot tell you anyythang!"**_

"_**Oh, but you will, scum. In the end, everyone breaks..."**_ Laughing, he strode back to the door, were a young woman stood, holding a large closed jar. Lifting the lid, he reached in. O'Neill swallowed nervously. He hated this bit.

A harsh squeaking that SG1 and Janet knew very well came from the jar as Rak'hesh withdrew his hand. Wrapped around his forearm was a long, dark green snake like creature. The head was marked by two glowing red eyes, and the mouth was formed from four fangs opening and closing. Three fish like fins emerged from the back of the head. O'Neill and his team noticed that the fangs weren't as large as normal, and the body appeared fatter and longer.

"Ugh, gross." Buffy commented, pulling a face.

Indy sighed and allowed his head to tip back. "Snakes. It had to be snakes." He spoke quietly with a note of resignation.

"What the heck is that?" Rick asked wide eyed.

"_**My queen is eager for a host." **_Rak'hesh turned towards the cell containing the women. _**"Question is; which one of you will it be?"**_ He smiled as one Jaffa opened the cell, allowing him entry.

"Go fuck yourself." Janet snapped as he stepped up before her. Sam started at her friend's use of language.

Rak'hesh looked her over, leering. _**"I'd much rather enjoy your body. Even if you are not chosen, I think I'll keep you around." **_He trapped her jaw for a moment, then released her and stepped onwards… to Willow. The poor young women was shivering in fear. Rak'hesh forced her chin up to look her in the eye.

"_**I have not seen such fear in a long time." **_He mused almost disappointedly.

As he moved onto Lara, Bond continued to adjust his watch. He'd started reaching for it just before their captors had entered. Since Rak'hesh had drawn out the symbiote he'd reached for it again. He had to be careful though, as the one Jaffa was still facing them, and he couldn't look at what he was doing without giving the game away. If they were to bust out, they needed to have surprise on their side.

Rak'hesh was reluctant to move on from Lara, or rather her breasts. Lara would have sworn she saw some drool form at the corner of his mouth. She wanted nothing more than to kick this monster in the balls, were his brains were right now. However, she also had no desire to get her own brain fried again like the last time she tangled with a Gou'ald, so she kept silent and still, drawing on her British upbringing to stand unflinching, meeting his lustful gaze with a stony, cold one.

Finally flinching from her glare, he moved on to Sarah. Sarah, much like Willow had, was shaking and fearfully trying to pull away from the snake-creature that Rak'hesh held near her. Ian tried to lunge forwards, but he barely moved a couple of inches before the chains around his wrists stopped him.

O'Neill watched, calm on the exterior, but franticly trying to see an opening on the inside. Chained up as they were however, kind of limited their options. He'd noted that Bond was up to something, but he wasn't sure what. Knowing what he was though, O'Neill was confident it was about getting them out.

Looking over the women in the other cell as Rak'hesh stepped away from Sarah, O'Neill tried to figure out which the Goa'uld would choose. Certainly Rak'hesh favoured the fuller figure, clearly shown by how long he lingered over Lara. He'd spent several long moments with Janet, but very little with Willow...

Jack frowned, then looked again. Willow had stopped shaking like a leaf. She now let her arms hang limply, her eyes closed. As he watched, O'Neill could see her lips move, as if she were chanting. A slight tightening of her eyebrows hinted that she was concentrating, but before O'Neill could wonder what on the Gou'ald began to squeak in an excited manner.

"_**Ah... I do believe my queen has found the one that pleases her the most."**_ Rak'hesh grinned evilly at the chosen woman.

Regina.__


	27. Last Hurdle

Chapter 27

She lowered her eyes from Rak'hesh's lecherous sneer to meet the gaze of the snake-thing he held in his hand. Regina watched in disgust as the four sharp teeth spread and closed in time with its high pitched hisses, the glowing red eyes fixed on her.

A very real thread of fear ran down her spine, chilling Regina to the bone. She didn't know much about these 'Goa'ulds', but what she did know was more than enough to ensure that she knew that once that snake was in her, she was doomed. Instinctively she leaned back as much as her bonds allowed her.

Rak'hesh smiled cruelly. _**"You can not escape now, my dear. My queen has chosen..."**_

He was cut off when the bars of the cell behind him suddenly bent and folded on their own, wrapping themselves around one of the two raptors that stood in the space between the cells. The beast barely had time to roar in surprise before the bars tightened, crushing it in a lethal embrace.

A loud clunk and the rattling of chains to the rear drew the attention of the Jaffa stood with in the men's cell. He turned about, just in time to get an empty cuff slammed into his face. Bond had used his watch's laser to break free, then used the chain as an impromptu weapon.

As Buffy dived forwards, having slipped her small hands out of the chains, Regina took the chance and kicked Rak'hesh right in the crotch, putting everything she had into the swing. As her boot connected his face went white as a sheet, and Rak'hesh folded over, staggering back a pace.

For those still bound, all they could do was watch as Buffy came up between two Jaffa and swept the legs out from under them. Both men crashed to the floor hard, but before she could do much else the second raptor leapt at her, claws reaching for her flesh. She battered aside the talons, but the beast still ploughed into her.

The last Jaffa levelled his staff, but was sent staggering forwards as Lara kicked him in the back with both feet, her hands clasping the chains around her wrists. The Jaffa spun around, angry, but before he could do anything Bond looped the chain he held over his head. The staff weapon dropped to the floor as the Jaffa reached up with his hands, trying to get over his collar armour and get a hold on of the chain that was now crushing his windpipe.

The two Jaffa that Buffy had dropped onto their asses were getting up however, and she was completely tied up with the raptor that was determined to tear her apart. Janet tugged at her bonds, but then heard something. Looking to her left, she could see young Willow was chanting, her eyes closed tightly as a trickle of sweat ran down her forehead. Her voice was filled with both power and exhaustion.

Across the chamber the locks holding Dylan and Teal'c snapped open suddenly, both men a little shocked to find them selves free. However, the sight of the one Jaffa standing upright acted as a spur to Teal'cs instincts, and he charged out, Dylan just behind him. They both crashed into the Jaffa before they could reach for the zats attached to their forearms. Across the room Willow slumped forwards, held upright only by the chains.

Regina delivered a third kick to Rak'hesh as he half crouched before her, her blows fuelled by more than just adrenaline. Seeing him move to block her fourth, she adjusted her swing. Instead of striking his arm that was placed in front of his battered chest, her boot toe struck his right hand, still somehow holding the queen symbiote. The queen was sent flying as his hand flew open, sailing across the chamber. Acting on dazed instinct, it slithered through the bars to get away from the humans.

Mar'tan was waiting. Having seen Regina kick the Goa'uld out of Rak'hesh's hand, he'd gone very still, hoping that the dazed queen would not remember he was there. He was rewarded as the queen slithered into his cage. It paused halfway in, as if suddenly realising there already was someone there, but it was too late. His claws came down rapidly, two of the three puncturing the creature just behind its head. As the Goa'uld thrashed, he dragged it further in before bringing his other fore limb up and tearing the queen apart.

Snarling in anger, Rak'hesh pushed him up out of reach of Regina's feet. His left hand shot out, stopping barely an inch from her forehead, the gauntlet crackling with energy. Regina went rigid as a golden glow suffused his palm and a lance of energy slammed into her.

Buffy was in trouble. She was barely staying ahead of the raptors jaws, and all her blows to its gut appeared to have no affect on it whatsoever. Seeing its jaws open wide once more, she took a chance, released its forelimbs and delivered a double fisted punch to the throat with everything she had. As her fists hit the Raptors' eyes almost bugged out, and it began to choke and gasp.

Regina would have screamed if she had been capable. However the drill that was boring through her head prevented her from doing anything. All she could see beyond the glowing red jewel at the heart of the gantlet was the cruel smirk on Rak'hesh's face. His eyes glowed for a moment as he looked into her eyes...

A gunshot rang out, and the smirk vanished from Rak'hesh's face as he wavered slightly. The glow from the gantlet he wore faded as a second, then a third and fourth shot rang out in quick succession. His arm dropped to his side as another two shots resounded in the small chamber, before one last shot caused his head to jolt forwards, his chin resting on his chest. Blood leaked from his mouth as his eyes glowed once more, before flickering and going out as he began to fall.

Bond sighed slowly as he lowered his second backup Walter. It had been missed by the Jaffa when they'd captured them, as it had been secured around his ankle. Seeing Regina in trouble, he'd quickly drawn and fired. Having read about just how tough these Goa'ulds could be, he'd made the choice to use all seven rounds to ensure a kill.

Looking around, he catalogued the situation. Teal'c and Dylan had put down their foes; Dylan appeared to have used the Jaffa's face as a punching bag, while a hilt of a knife stuck out of the other's belly. Miss Summers was pulling herself out from under the dead weight of the raptor which was sprawled on top of her. The other two Jaffa were unconscious.

Satisfied that those two would not wake up some, he joined Teal'c and Dylan by the other raptor... the one that had been crushed in an embrace of cell bars that had without warning sprung to life. There was no doubt it was dead. But what had caused the bars to act so?

"Anyone care to explain?" Dylan asked the room at large. Nobody replied.

"Hey, mind getting us out of these chains?" O'Neill asked after a few moments.

X-X-X-X-X-X

A small smile twitched at the corner of O'Neill's mouth as he drew back the bolt on the P90. Mar'tan had guessed correctly and led them to their captured weapons... in one of the original staff's armoury. They had been able to restock and rearm.

Even better, there was a case of C4 and two large crates of dynamite here. Enough for what O'Neill had in mind.

"Carter, pull up that plan again." Everyone gathered round as Carter opened the file on her laptop.

"You guys..." O'Neill towards Regina, Dylan and their friends. "What you need to get home is in here somewhere, right?"

Regina nodded. "That's right. It's why we infiltrated this complex in the first place."

"Think you can get them to what ever it is?" He didn't look at him, but everyone knew that the question was directed at Mar'tan.

The Tok'ra Raptor cocked his head, looking at the display. _**"I believe ssso, yesss. Zhere were unly a couple of chambersss zhat I did not have accesss to before. Now zhat I know what came through, zhere are unly two possssibly chambers." **_He used a claw to point them out: two large chambers near the base of the facility.

"Good. We'll head down with you, and then spread out, placing explosives. We're bringing this whole complex down." O'Neill got a lot of stunned looks from the others at that statement.

"We can't let anyone get their hands on what's down there. Time travel is nothing but trouble."

Regina nodded slowly, agreeing with him. So did Dylan and Rick. Messing around with time – not their own actions, but those of others - had gotten them into a lot trouble.

"We'll blast apart the lower levels. Without support, the upper levels will collapse down into the lower, destroying this place." O'Neill looked up at the others, loosely grouped together. "You I want outside, sealing those tunnels." His finger drifted across the various tunnels that led from the central chamber... where Rak'hesh had his human followers slaughtered.

"I can do that." Indy commented simply.

"Good." O'Neill straightened, tugging his cap back on. "Get to work."

X-X-X-X-X-X

"So, Mr Bond, this your normal experience?" Lara asked she looked around a corner at the two Jaffa guards further down the corridor. So far neither had noticed their presence.

Bond shrugged. "Mostly." He replied as he taped down the second bundle of dynamite sticks next to the block of C4 he'd placed on the main support beam. All the sticks had been wired with half-second fuses, and a dozen sticks were being placed with each charge of the much more powerful explosive. The timers for the C4 were already running: there was no way a radio signal could get through the various levels of concrete to all the charges.

Right now O'Neill's team, Lara and Bond, and Regina's group were planting charges throughout the lower levels of the complex. Bond and Lara were mainly working the storage levels, which had less personnel than the others, while Regina's group, led by the Tok'ra Raptor, were heading towards the central region of the lowest level, were their way home was located, apparently.

He pushed the bundle of sticks, ensuring they were secure, before glancing at the timer on the small, innocuous block of plastic explosive. They had a little over eight minutes.

"Come on." Quickly the two of them slipped away in the base.

X-X-X-X-X-X

Working quickly, Indiana quickly wrapped the four fuse wires that led off into the open passageways together. Within each of those passageways, the first ten support beams had a half-dozen sticks attached each. When those sticks blew, the entrances would be sealed.

Back in the small minivan that they had selected, Grant and Malcolm sat trying to get their breath back. They'd been the ones who'd moved the dynamite from within the base. A crate and a half of TNT is heavy, even if it is on a trolley.

Satisfied with the fuses, Indy pulled out the small lighter he always carried. Flicking the wheel, he lit the end of the fuses.

As they sparked and hissed, he stood up. "That's it." He commented before swiftly walking to the others. Getting behind the wheel, he drove off.

A minute later, tongue's of flame erupted from each of the tunnel entrances, and with a roaring sound tons of rock crashed down just within the tunnels, completely sealing them forever.

X-X-X-X-X-X

Regina paused as she heard a faint rumbling sound echo down from one of the side corridors. "There go the outer tunnels." She commented.

Mar'tan nodded, his long reptilian head slowly swinging from side to side. _**"We ssshould presssss on." **_

Quickly the six of them moved onwards, closing in on the suspected location of the Time Gate that would get them home. As they went Dylan placed his share of charges; they all agreed that they could not leave the Time Gate intact behind them. Colonel O'Neill was adamant that it be blow to smithereens.

Mar'Tan paused in the centre of an intersection, his head cocked to one side. Regina raised a hand as she stopped within the passageway. Behind her she could hear faintly the others stopping. "What is it?"

"_**Jaffa. Pair guarding doorway to ourr leaaft. Zhat isss where I believe the time devissse isss."**_

Regina risked peeking around the corner to see. The passage they were entering in to was certainly large enough for the Allosaurs. And a short way down to the left, a pair of Jaffa stood on guard either side of an expansive door on the far side.

Rolling back, she looked at Rick and nodded. Nodding back, he eased up to kneel just before her. He looked up over his shoulder at her, and she answered his silent question with a nod of her own. They both took the safeties off their weapons, then he raised three fingers of his left hand from the rifle he held.

When the third finger dropped they both pivoted round, their weapons jutting round the corner while their bodies safely behind the thick wall. Sighting in on the near Jaffa, Regina fired off a three second burst from her SAW, trusting Rick to take out the further target. Over the roar of her own weapon, Regina could just make out the flat crack of the M16 firing three times.

Neither Jaffa knew what hit them. Her target was pitched backwards, folding over at the waist as the 7.62mm rifle rounds smashed into him, punching right through the leather and chainmail sections of his armour. After rebounding from the wall he collapsed face down onto the floor, unmoving.

Rick's was dead before he even fell. There wasn't much left above the neck after three head shots.

Moving through into the chamber, they all paused at the sight of the tangled mess of equipment. Rick looked about, struggling to work out what part was what. About the only thing that was clear was the area where the field would open. There was a large, clear area near the centre, ringed with towers of equipment and glowing crystals.

"Great! How do we operate this mess?" Dylan asked in frustration.

Mar'tan glided into the room; he'd been lingering outside, forcing down his hosts reaction after the scent of blood reached it. He eased into the small space behind a console. _**"I kkan operate the devisse from here. Jussst tell me when and where you wisssh to go."**_ After Rick told him the details, Mar'Tan placed his hand over a blue orb. The Raptor's three fingered and clawed form didn't sit well, but the orb glowed and the machinery hummed and groaned. The sounds of sparking electricity resounded throughout the chamber. The inner faces of the towers opened up, the crystals within pulsing. The noise was almost deafening.

As Regina watched the archaic systems strain, Dylan moved about the room, planting the other set of explosives he'd been carrying. Mar'Tan would trigger them once the others had gone through before he ran. The time device would be destroyed before any remaining Gao'uld could use it to escape.

The time device began to open the portal. It didn't do it smoothly like the Time Gate's Regina had used did. Instead the vortex pulsed and wavered, as if the fabric of time was actively trying to close it against the forces being used to open it. Throughout the complex lights dimmed and flickered, and the entire complex shivered and trembled.

A shower of sparks erupted from one console, startling Paula. Warning sirens cried out even as the portal grew and began to stabilise.

"_**When I sssay, go quickly! I do not know how long I can keep iit open!" **_Mar'tan snarled. Regina looked across at the Raptor to his eyes tightly closed, the tail shivering behind him. He'd brought the other hand to rest on the orb too, and he almost appeared to be leaning on it.

"Okay! I'll go first, make sure we're in the right place and it's safe. Once I've secured..." Gail began.

"There won't be time for that!" Regina cut in, for once cutting off the older, more experienced agent. "Gail's first, then Paula, Dylan, Rick then me." Gail shot her a dirty look, but held his tongue.

The howling vortex calmed down, and in the space in the middle glimpses could be made out of another complex. _**"Go now!"**_ Mar'Tan roared.

Gail didn't wait, but stepped forwards calmly, lifting him foot high over the still chaotic edge of the portal. Dylan hustled Paula up the steps, Rick only a step behind him.

Regina turned to wards Mar'Tan again. The Tok'ra Raptor had left the console and was stepping towards the exit, the remote for the explosives in his claws. "Mar'Tan?" She called.

He stopped and looked back at her. Regina fought down once more the shiver that ran through her.

"Thanks, for everything."

Mar'Tan looked at her for a long moment, before he shuffled so that he fully faced her. He didn't say anything, but bowed deeply, his snout almost brushing the floor. Nodding herself, Regina turned to face the portal, where Paula was just stepping through...

A loud roar behind her made her head snapped around, hand rocketing for her weapons. Through the ends of her hair she saw as Mar'Tan was sent flying across the chamber as a charging Allosaurus smacked him in the side with its head. Frantically she tried to bring her gun to bear, but the Allosaurus was already almost on top of her, mouth opening wide to reveal the rows of sharp teeth...__


	28. Running out of Time

Chapter 28

Regina stumbled backwards, trying to give herself some more time, but she knew that she was out of time. Only a couple more paces now and the Allosaur would have its jaws around her. She could see how its eyes were glowing as the head twisted and lowered, ready to snatch her up...

A thunderous report resounded in the chamber, and the top of the Allosaur's head blew off from within. Within the open jaws Regina could see spurting blood as the head was snapped to the side. She breathed again, but her relief was short lived. The Allosaurs body was turning, but it had built up a lot of momentum... momentum that was continuing to carry it forwards, towards her.

She tried to run, but her last step had put her boot inside a looped cable. Now it snagged her, and Regina staggered. Her eyes went wide as she realised that there was nothing she could do as four thousand pounds worth of dinosaur fell towards her.

Dylan dropped his anti-tank rifle and ran for the finally stilled Allosaur corpse, Rick at his side. Paula had just stepped through the portal, and he'd been about to follow, when the dinosaur had roared its challenge. He'd aimed and fired as quickly as ever had, but it wasn't soon enough.

"Regina!" He yelled as he reached the mottled blue-grey bulk. Clambering over the neck, he caught sight of Regina's head. "Rick, over here!"

As they both crouched down besides her, Dylan cursed as he took in the situation. Regina was pinned underneath the beasts dead-weight up to her waist. Her feet were somewhere underneath its ribs, between the small arms and the much larger legs. Setting his shoulders, he pushed against the body. The muscles in his arms bulged, but the corpse barely shifted.

"No!" Dylan cursed, slamming his fist down onto the corpse as several more showers of sparks erupted from various points around the room. Across the chamber Mar'Tan got back to his feet dazed. Looking around, he saw the situation the others were in. Without hesitation, he ran for the exit.

Regina pulled her wits back. She was trapped, and Dylan could not get her free by himself. If Gail had still been here... Over Dylan's shoulder she saw the portal contract a little as a computer panel blew out.

"Guys, you have to go. Leave me!"

Both men stared at her, horrified.

"No! We don't leave anybody behind!" Rick countered.

"You don't have a choice! The portal's closing. If you don't go now, you'll never get home again!"

"The others..." Dylan began.

"Gail wouldn't think twice about leaving anyone behind, and Paula's got no authority." Regina cut him off. Rick scowled; she was right. Gail was as cold as ice. All that mattered to him was The Mission.

Dylan looked torn. "We'll come back... get another..."

"No!" Regina snapped. "The technology must be destroyed! O'Neill's right; it's far too dangerous! Promise me that when you get back, you'll make sure that all the Third Energy research and data is destroyed."

Rick was startled, and Dylan reeled back a bit... until Regina reached out, grabbed his collar and pulled him close. For an instant he thought she was going to kiss him, but she just looked him in the eyes, staring.

"Remember, you owe me one. Two now, in fact. Destroy the data, everything, and we'll call it even. Promise me you'll do it. Both of you." Her eyes raked over to Rick.

Under her harsh stare, Rick folded. He nodded slowly as he stood, his dark skin fading into the dim light. "I promise." His voice was choked with emotion.

Regina turned her glare onto Dylan, who she continued to hold on to. He held silent, his face revealing nothing. The back of one of the towers exploded, sending fragments whizzing through the air. Seeing the portal waver and fade sent shivers of panic up Rick's spine.

"If we're going Dylan, we have to go now!"

After another couple of seconds, Dylan groaned and bowed his head, eyes shutting. "Damn you Regina. I'll do it."

Regina's face softened with a smile. "I know. Now go! Look after Paula, enjoy your life." With that she let go of his collar.

Dylan slowly straightened, then snapped a sharp, precise salute, much like the last time they were in a situation like this. Rick followed suit. After a moment, Regina returned it.

The two men ran for the portal. It was already shrinking. She watched with a lump in her throat as they dived through the narrowing hole. After a couple more seconds it closed up, vanishing without a trace.

Then another tower blew out, sending chunks of itself flying. Regina ducked down behind the Allosaur corpse to escape the flying debris. At the same time she reached down and wormed her hand under the body that was crushing down on her. Regina didn't know how bad off she was. The weight of the Allosaur was crushing, but she couldn't feel any sharp pains that suggested broken bones. Then again, she couldn't feel much below the waist, aside from the pressure of the dead dino. Slowly however her fingers reached down and wrapped around another transmitter, also set to detonate the explosives Dylan had placed. Pulling it free, she armed it with a flick of her thumb, then set it down on the floor next to her. No point setting them off just yet. There might be more Goa'uld coming, and she was going to take a few of the bastards with her! In fact, there was one entering now...

"_**Don't shoot!" **_ The raptor growled as it saw her bring her SAW to bear. Startled, she held fire for a moment... long enough for five human figures to enter behind the raptor, each dressed in torn urban grey fatigues.

"Ah crap!" O'Neill commented when he saw Regina's situation. Hearing this, Regina sighed and eased off on the trigger. SG-1 quickly gathered round her.

"How is she doc?"

"Regina? Look at me dear." Dr Frasier spoke to Regina, for the moment ignoring the Colonel. "Can you feel your feet?"

"Not really..." Regina grunted. "This fucking dino..."

Janet looked at O'Neill. "We've got to get her free."

O'Neill nodded. "Al'right. Teal'c, Daniel." With a gesture he directed them to Regina's left side as he stepped to her right, Carter at his shoulder as ever. Setting their shoulders, the team pushed as one. Looking up at them, Regina noted how Sam grimaced as she pushed, her eyes tightly closed above her bare teeth. O'Neill was using his shoulder to push, and he too had his eyes closed. Teal'c was leaning forwards, arms outstretched, a look of pure concentration on his face.

The Allosaur at first seemed to be immune to their efforts, and then it moved. Regina bit back on a cry of pain as she felt the crushing weight lift from her thighs to be concentrated on her shins and ankles.

"Little more!" Janet called over the sound of another tower tearing itself apart, her arms around Regina's thin shoulders. The Allosaur rolled a little more, and then she was being pulled backwards, out from under the beast. Fresh, sharp pain exploded in her legs, and Regina couldn't help but yelp at them.

SG-1 stepped back, allowing the huge corpse to settle once more, but before O'Neill could inquire as to Regina's health again Mar'tan called from the doorway where he had been stood. _**"O'Neill! We have company!"**_

Running over, O'Neill dropped to one knee as he looked around the corner. Half a dozen raptors were loping down the passageway towards him. "Ah crap..." He muttered before raising the P90 and triggering a burst. The lead raptor caught the rounds in the throat, and staggered about, stunned. The others seemed to pause before they dived for cross-passages and open doorways. The one he'd hit remained in the open, so O'Neill put it down with a longer burst. As it fell he glanced at the clip, cursing when he saw he only had a few bullets left.

"Carter, Teal'c! Suppressing fire!" He bellowed. As the two of them ran over to take his place at the door, O'Neill jogged over to kneel alongside Janet as she examined Regina. Daniel hovered on the other side of the intelligence woman.

"Well?"

"Fractured tibia, sprained ankle, and a bruised pelvis. She's not going to be able to move on her own. I'm giving her something for the pain and delayed shock, but that's about all I can do here."

"Damn." O'Neill muttered. Regina had proven to be a good solider. After a half-second of thought, he reached down and removed the cut-down MP5's from the small of her back. He passed one to Daniel. "Cover them."

Daniel took the gun a little awkwardly. Although in the six years since the start of the Stargate Program he had become proficient in handling firearms and battle, it was nothing something he was comfortable with.

O'Neill looked down at Regina's face. She looked back up at him plainly, one eyebrow arched a little. There was a hint of pain in the depths of her eyes, but O'Neill ignored it. He pressed the other gun into her right hand. "Hand in there. We'll get you out."

A ghost of a smile flickered across her face. "Yes sir."

A half smile on his face, O'Neill grasped the heavy SAW that lay close to her. "When you're ready Doc."

Nodding, Janet slipped an arm around and under Regina's shoulders, helping her up onto her good leg. Small gasps escaped her as her damaged leg shifted, but Regina made it upright.

Their progress to the door was a little slower than O'Neill would have liked, but better than he expected. As Carter and Teal'c continued to keep the raptors bottled up further down the corridor, he moved up, heading away from them. After sweeping an intersection he waved Janet and Regina up, Daniel close behind them. Mar'Tan loped alongside to pause just ahead, sniffing. "Carter!"

Sam glanced over her shoulder before nodding. Firing off another short burst, she rose and jogged over to his location. Teal'c stepped backwards, firing all the while.

As they fell back, the raptors moved up. O'Neill smiled tightly when he saw nearly all of them dive into the Time Gate room. Wordlessly he thumbed the detonator.

A sheet of fire erupted from the open doorway, completely filling the passageway. The thunderous chain of explosions drowned the roars of the dying raptors, before in turn being overwhelmed by the sound of falling rubble and rock. Smoke and dust billowed out of the doorway above a small tide of rock and debris.

"Let's get out of here." O'Neill gestured, and the motley team moved off.

X-X-X-X-X-X

Buffy looked about the interior of the old warehouse, a small shiver running up her slight frame. It was an echoing, empty space. The only thing of note was the huge stack of shipping containers in the centre, as dilapidated as the building they were in.

The truth was that those containers were merely a shell to hide the top of the hidden elevator to the secret base. Had she not known about it she never would have found it. The containers were filled with junk and rubble. She should know: she had been the one who looked inside them all, trying to find the entrance. Even those which made up the door appeared to be stuffed full.

'Appeared' was the operative word. Buffy had watched as the old Archaeologist had stood looking at the huge stack, hand curled into fists resting on his hips, hat pulled low. Buffy had been exasperated when he'd approached the stack again. She was tired and grimy from having to clamber up the stack to open the doors or peer through rusty holes. She'd watched as he'd stepped into one container, one hand pulling an old lighter from his pack. She'd watched as the tiny light had moved about... and then he'd called out, saying he'd found the entrance.

That particular container was only a fraction of the length of the others. It had been piled high within with rubble to hide the shortness, but with the light from the naked flame the illusion was revealed. A through search of the rubble turned up a key pad, into which Ian had tapped in a code they had been given by Sam Carter.

After the last digit had been entered, the container shuddered. They had all stepped out hastily, to see both it and three others – the one above and the pair next to them - swing open in two great doors. Within there had been new metalwork, and the top of a massive lift shaft, easily large enough to hold a small legion of rampaging dinosaurs.

Right now they were placing more explosives throughout the lift shaft terminus. Indiana hoped to blast away enough of the flooring and the top of the shaft to cause the containers that hid it to come crashing down into the hole formed. The lift itself, a massive open frame affair, had more sticks placed at all its emergency brakes and the cables, and Ian was right now using an old forklift truck to bring wrecks in from outside and piling them on the lift. When the lift was blown free it would fall right to the bottom.

Buffy shook her head as she watched Indiana climb down into the shaft itself, a drill slung over his shoulder. He was determined to blast this entrance apart. Well, he certainly had the power. They'd used barely a quarter of their supply of dynamite in sealing the beach tunnels. It looked like the old man was planning to use all the rest here.

Turning back, Buffy took a step backwards to avoid Ian as he came through. His driving was not terrible, but he was clearly still trying to understand the forklifts controls. As he passed, Buffy spied another slight figure well away from everyone else. Silently she walked over to her.

Willow showed no sigh of hearing her approach, but simply started speaking when she stopped just behind her. "I'm sorry Buffy. I just couldn't take it. I just knew that if I was taken..."

"Hey." Buffy reached out and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. "I'm not afraid to admit that the thought of being taken myself frightened me half to death..."

"But that's it." Willow cut in. "You may have been scared, but you were able to act. Me? I broke down. I was so scared..." There was a sob in her voice now.

"Will, you helped us get free." Buffy told her as she brought her other arm around to hug Willow to her. "I know it was you, making those bars bend and fold, freeing Teal'c and Dylan. That trick with the bars was wicked." She could feel Willow smile at her praise.

Truthfully Buffy was unnerved by the power Willow had unleashed. She had made inch thick steel bars rip themselves out of their mortar settings – and tear off welds – to wrap around a living creature and crush it to a pulp. The good thing was that Willow was still sweet and gentle, a kind soul. Buffy prayed that she would never have to face a Willow gone evil; she didn't know if she could beat her, let alone face her.

Motion out of the corner of her eye drew Buffy's attention. The others were gathering, a long reel of fuse cord being unwound. It was time to leave.

"Come on." She said, relaxing her hug a little to step back. "Let's get out of here."

Willow smiled sadly at her. "Not much of a vacation, was it?"

Buffy shrugged. "On par with my life."__


	29. Time to Go

Chapter 29

Bond ducked back as several golden-yellow bolts whipped past, some slamming into the concrete wall next to him. He and Lara had almost reached the private dock at the base of the cliff when they'd run into a patrol. They'd felled the raptors quickly, but the Jaffa had dug in around the guard station before the dock. There was no way around them: they had to go through.

He glanced down at his wrist. The digital watch display remorselessly tracked the progress of time, time which they didn't have. Every second they were delayed meant they had less time to escape the area before the explosives they'd planted blew this place to oblivion.

A barrage of gunfire behind him resounded, but he didn't look. He knew it was just Lara taking care of someone trying to flank them.

He leaned out again, the AK bucking his hands as he nailed another Jaffa trying to move up. The armoured warrior groaned as sparks flew off his chest before slowly collapsing face first onto the floor. He joined the other three who had tried before him.

That still left at least five more, three in the guard post itself and the other two using the bodies of the two fallen raptors as cover. Not that there was much left of each beast; he'd had to use a full clip on each to bring them down.

Another bolt struck the corner close to his head. Bond turned his head away, closing his eyes against the spray of fine fragments. Opening them slowly, he blinked through the acrid smoke as he looked down the corridor on the other side of the 'T' in which he found himself. The Sound of booted feet had him bringing his weapon to bear...

People in grey combat fatigues rounded the corner, with a raptor alongside. Then the faces registered and he eased off on the trigger. As SG1 came to a halt across from him Bond frowned at the sight of Regina in their midst.

O'Neill peeked out, and almost instantly pulled back. His hand reached into one of the pockets on his vest, coming back out with a grenade. A quick throw sent the small, round and innocuous object sailing through the air to neatly pass through the open window of the guard room.

Bond was impressed. That was an impressive throw.

The Jaffa within started yelling just before the grenade detonated, pitching two of them out the window. As it did O'Neill and Carter both stepped out from around the corner, weapons raised and firing. The two Jaffa that Bond had pinned were exposed, and neither Air Force officer hesitated.

It a moment after that Bond saw the sixth Jaffa, further back down the passageway. The cape that whirled out as he turned revealed who he was as he ran out onto the jetty.

"O'Neill! He intends to destroy the craft!" Teal'c's voice came out clear as he read the Prime's intention.

"Crap! Carter..." O'Neill began but Carter was already in motion, sprinting after the much larger figure. As the rest picked their way over the fallen Jaffa there came the sound of a single P90 shot.

"_All secured sir." _Carter radioed back to them, easing the worry that had gripped O'Neill's heart.

Quickly they all made their way out on to the jetty, passing the fallen First Prime as they did. A look of surprise was frozen on his face. The great spar of concrete dwarfed the launch that was tied up alongside. Mar'Tan was able to jump down with ease, but everyone else had to climb down. Teal'c lowered Regina down to Janet and Lara while O'Neill moved to the cabin. He was just about to climb down himself when a voice roared from the tunnel.

"_**Shol'var!"**_ Rak'esh strode out from the complex, eyes gleaming dangerously. On either side of him were raptors, too many to count.

"Teal'c!" O'Neill's call had him turn and throw himself down into the launch, just as a concussion blast whipped through the air. O'Neill threw the throttle open and the launch powered away from the wharf. A couple of raptors raced up but halted at the lip, clearly realising that the jump was too far even for them. In the midst of the pack they could all see Rak'Hesh standing tall, radiating fury.

"Carter, how much time..." O'Neill began, but he was cut off as the whole cliff shook. A massive tongue of flame erupted from the tunnel, searing the flesh from bone of anything in its path. Another flame jetted out of the ventilation duct that Regina's team had used to enter the complex. The Villa above shook, a fireball blooming from within.

Everyone in the small craft watched as more explosions resounded from the cliff, balls of fire breaking out from under the rock face. Slowly the wall that rimmed the estate twisted and distorted, and the sounded of tumbling rock drowned out the explosions. In one great motion the entire cliff face dropped into the sea, the bluff above collapsing in on its self. Great clouds of dust and spray shot into the air, and the displaced water formed a large wave that rolled towards them. The launch rose and over the wave, which carried on unbroken out to sea.

No one spoke as the circled back towards the beach. The bluff where the Gao'uld base had been was gone, along with a large chunk of the cliff and a fifth of the beach. Instead there was mound of rubble and rock, forming a gentle rise up from the sea to the street level above.

X-X-X-X-X-X

Janet Fraiser allowed a sigh of contentment to escape her lips as she looked about the airports' waiting room. After the two separate groups had met up at the beach, they had all travelled as a group to the airport. It had been deserted, but untouched by violence. Once there they had been able to rest up; most of them had fallen asleep once more. Colonel O'Neill had made a call to the SGC, asking General Hammond for a pickup. From what she'd overheard, Hammond had been relieved to hear from them.

A small, sad smile flicked across her face as she looked over at the Colonel. He was slouched down in one of the low benches in the waiting area, face relaxed in sleep. What caused Janet to smile though was that Sam had, likely unconsciously, snuggled up to him, and he'd wrapped an arm round her.

Janet was one of only three beings, aside from themselves, who knew of how they felt for each other. It had been a little over three years ago now, but she could still recall the scene in that observation room in the SGC like it was this morning. How the two of them had, to prove that they weren't brain-washed time-bombs, to reveal how they really felt about each other, which they had not done so the first time round. Janet understood fully why; the Air Force regulations were quite clear about inter-personal relationships. If the brass got wind that they even might have strong feelings for each other, they would be looking at dishonourable discharges, at the least.

And yet... The SGC was unlike any other military base, and SG1 were unlike any other team. The four of them had totally different background, and yet they had formed an unbreakable bond between each other, turning the team into a family. It wasn't just between themselves either; both herself and Hammond were also part of the family, if slightly removed from the core. Those bonds of trust and friendship were part of the reason SG1 had such a reputation. But with Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter it went much deeper than that.

Janet had also seen how having to repress their feelings was slowly tearing them apart, internally and externally. Already they had been trying to move on, find someone else, but it was clearly so very hard.

What was really astounding thought was that Janet knew they hadn't ever crossed the line, even in secret. They may have admitted how they felt, but both of them had tried to keep it all 'in that room'. Janet figured that O'Neill didn't give a rat's ass about what happened to him if they did and were found out: he was close to retirement and already had several black marks of his record. But Sam on the other hand...

O'Neill was protecting her. There already had been many malicious rumours, started no doubt by envious, sexist bigots, that Sam had got her rank and position on her back rather than on merits. Any hint of her having a personal relationship with her CO could be used to destroy her career. The SGC had plenty of enemies back home; something as juicy as a violation of regulations by the military members of SG1 would be like a gift from god to them. It would mean the end of SG1, and the SGC as a whole.

Still... if anyone deserved some happiness, it was those two, and the rest of SG1. How many times had those four saved the world now? Five, six times? Surely an exception could be made for them? She knew, and Hammond must suspect... Her thoughts were cut short by the rumble of a large aircrafts engines. Almost instantly O'Neill shifted, his eyes flickering open. Sam also blinked awake, and for a moment the two of them looked at each other, an entire conversation contained within a silent second.

With a small groan O'Neill stood upright. "Okay campers, time to go home." Mar'Tan grumbled a little, but eased himself off the floor and stalked into the large crate they'd found. They'd already placed food and water inside for the trip to the SGC.

Soon those leaving were walking across the tarmac to the waiting Hercules, the planes cargo master manoeuvring the crate into the plane's belly.

Lara stopped just before stepping into the aircraft, looking back over her shoulder. Dr's Grant and Jones were staying; Grant so that he could return to his dig, and Indy was going to join him. Her eyes locked with Indy's, and for a moment neither moved. Then Indy smiled and touched the brim of his hat. Lara smiled in reply then stepped aboard.

A couple of minutes later the two men were sat in a jeep they'd selected, watching the plane shrink into the sky heading north. Grant looked across at Jones wistful expression. "Regretting your choice?"

The older man looked back at him. "No. Just thinking about the last couple of days..." Grant simply nodded in reply; it was certainly an eventful experience.

"Amazing how some times the truth is stranger than fiction."

"Hmm. Though I think it must tear him up a bit."

"What?"

"That he was right about the Pyramids, but can't tell anyone."

Indy nodded slowly, understanding Grant's words. "I know that feeling." He shrugged. "I'm sure they'll be in touch."

"Right." Grant nodded, before starting the engine.


	30. Returning Home

Chapter 30

The sound of the outer door opening made Moneypenny start. She looked up... to her favourite agent standing in the doorway. "James."

Bond smiled lightly. "Hello Moneypenny. Miss me?"

She smiled. "You missed all your regular reports, but then that's your normal style is it not?"

Bond affected a wounded expression. "How could you think so little of me?"

"I know you James." Her eyes drifted to the folder Bond held under one arm. "You have something for me?"

Bond smiled once as he handed the folder to her with a flourish. "My report, which I strongly recommend is filed away somewhere very, very deep where no-one will ever find it."

Her brow furrowed as she took the folder. "Why, what happened?"

Bond's eyes darkened, and she could have sworn that there was a hint of fear in them. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." He said in a half whisper before he left the office, closing the door gently behind himself.

Moneypenny looked down at the plain folder in her hands, the only marks the official MI6 emblem embossed into the surface. Bond, scared? What could have happened? For a long moment she was tempted to look through it, but she reigned in her curiosity. She was not cleared to know the details. Sighing, she stepped towards the inner door.

X-X-X-X-X-X

Many miles north of where Bond was returning to his office, Lara Croft allowed herself to flop back into the couch, weary from everything. She'd spent an age in the bath, allowing the water to sooth her aching muscles. That Tok'ra's healing thing may have repaired the damage, but the memory of the injuries was still there. And it had no effect on fatigue.

Now, dressed in a loose shirt and tracksuit trousers, she closed her eyes, allowed her body to relax.

Her butler Hilary stepped over quietly, laying the tray he carried at her elbow with barely a sound. "You okay Lara?" He asked gently. "We were both worried when you didn't arrive at Heathrow..."

"I'm fine." She replied, cutting him off mid sentence. "I just... want to take it easy for a bit."

"So... should I tell Bryce not to set up the temple room?"

Lara's opened a fraction, just enough for Hilary to see her troubled eyes. "Yes. In fact, he can have the week off."

"Ah." Hilary straightened before walking quietly away. He shooed Bryce away as he did, having recognised the signs. Whatever had happened, it had been something that deeply affected Lara. She had only ever taken things easy after a particularly harrowing adventure. That business with the Cradle of Life and Pandora's Box had been a prime example. She'd not done anything of her normal past times for nearly two weeks afterwards.

Looking back at her, sprawled back loose limbed against the sofa, Hillary wondered how long before she recovered from this one...

X-X-X-X-X-X

Buffy sighed in relief as she dropped onto the sofa in her home. It was good to be home. It had been an uncomfortable flight back to the states for her, though she had seen that O'Neill had dozed off almost right away. And after the last few hours in the town, it had been something of an anti-climax.

The plane had landed on a base just outside San Diego for only a few minutes, just long enough for her and the other non-military people to disembark. After having them sign non-disclosure forms regarding the 'incident' they had been released to head to their various homes. She and Willow had to get a bus to reach Sunnydale.

Willow sank down besides her. "Nice to be home again, isn't it?" She asked tiredly.

"Yeah." Buffy looked across at her friend. "You okay?"

Willow nodded. "Uh huh. Take's a bit of time to settle in..."

Both girls started when the doorbell rang. After a moment Buffy stood up again and answered.

"Hey, welcome Back!" Xander said as he stepped inside. "I thought you were going away for two weeks?"

"Yeah, that was the plan, but... something came up." Buffy answered evasively.

"Well, as your back, how about we all go see a movie?" He asked, completely missing her evasion.

The tow girls looked at each other. "I suppose..." Willow started.

Buffy looked at the beaming Xander. "What movie where you thinking of?"

Xander's grin just widened. "What else? The new 'King Kong'. I can't wait to see how he wrestles with a T-Rex!"

Both girls' eyes widened. "On second thought, I need to patrol." Buffy said quickly, racing upstairs to get her weapons.

"I ah, I got to go study..." Willow followed her up the stairs, leaving Xander stood by the front door looking up after them in confusion.

"What I say?"

X-X-X-X-X-X

"Hey. How you doing?"

Regina opened her eyes to see Colonel O'Neill stood at the end of the bed she lay in, dressed in a loose green BDU, hands in his pockets.

"Well enough." She answered, sitting up a little in the SGC's Infirmary bed. After landing at Nellis they'd been driven to Cheyenne Mountain. SG1 and herself had been directed to the Infirmary for tests, while Mar'Tan had been separated and given some guest quarters. She'd heard O'Neill joke that this time Doc Frasier was the one getting the big needles jabbed into her, rather than her stabbing him with them. Janet had simply asked if he wanted her to take over his examination.

Thanks to her injuries in the Goa'uld Time Chamber, she'd been confined to the Infirmary to recover and bade to rest. So far, her mind was too active to allow her to sleep.

Those few minutes in the Time Chamber kept on running through her mind, replaying over and over. She kept on trying to see how she could have evaded the Allosaur, how she could of escaped with her team. But every time it was the same.

Her thoughts from before the insanity stole back into her mind. Was her situation truly bad, or was it a chance to live again, one without the constant fear and tension from the Terrorism War as it had become known, even if only for a few years? She brought her attention back to O'Neill as he spoke once more.

"That's good. Doc reckons you should be up and around again in a couple of days." He half sat on the end of the bed, his expression slightly softer. "Thought about what you're going to do now?"

Regina sighed. "Truthfully, no. It's not like I have anywhere I can go."

O'Neill half smiled. "You thought about joining the SGC?"

Regina gaped at him, stunned. Her, join the Stargate Program? She had to admit the prospect had a great deal of appeal...

"You're a good fighter, and smart. We need people like you."

"What about clearance? Technically, I'm still a little girl somewhere in New York."

O'Neill smiled. "And there's a second 'me' attending High School." He waved a hand, dismissing the matter. "Point is, we can get around that. So, you want in?"

Regina sat still for a long moment, thinking. Then she nodded. "Yes. I'm game."

O'Neill nodded. "Good." He pulled a hand out and tossed a cloth disk towards her. It landed Velcro backing up on her lap, and when she turned it over she saw a stylised looking 'V' symbol surmounted by a black roman numeral... the numeral for '1'.

"Welcome to SG1." At her startled look, he explained. "I talked with General Hammond already. We were thinking about expanding the teams, starting with SG1, and I want you on my team. Can you handle it?" There was a teasing note in his last sentence.

Regina smiled. "You know I can."

"Excellent." He eased off the bed. "Mar'Tan's heading back to the Tok'Ra today at fourteen-hundred hours tomorrow."

Regina smiled lightly at the implied message.

X-X-X-X-X-X

"_Chevron four encoded."_

Mar'Tan stood at the base of the ramp that led up to the Earth Stargate, watching the inner ring spin as they dialled. It both amazed and impressed him that the humans of this world had managed to build their own dialling device without any reference except the Stargate itself.

Around him the guards that were stationed in the Gate Room stood nervously, fingers close to their weapons triggers. Mar'Tan understood their fear completely. He still did not know what his fellow Tok'ra would think. His continued suppression of his host ran contrary to everything the Tok'Ra believed in... but then again, none of them had ever suspected that one of their kind would have a very powerful and intelligent predatory beast as a host. Certainly nothing as potentially dangerous to humans as the raptor he now existed in.

And yet... it _was _an intelligent being. He'd allowed the raptor to go through his memories of his friends and confidents. It had slowly began to change in its outlook on the people around it. Maybe, with time...

"_Chevron five encoded."_

The huge blast door to his right slowly moved aside. Mar'Tan tipped his head a little to the side, to better see who was entering. When he saw SG1 step through, he twisted about to face them fully.

"_**Here to see me off?"**_ He growled playfully.

"Actually it's for Jacob." O'Neill answered jovially, indicating the elderly man that was walking besides Sam Carter.

As father and daughter talked quietly, a lithe bright red-haired figure half-limped in behind them, stepping around the Carters to approach Mar'Tan directly. He looked into Regina's face, noting in passing that she was dressed in SGC BDU's.

"Thanks once again." She said simply.

"_Chevron six encoded."_

Mar'Tan bowed before her, before turning to look at the rest of SG1. Teal'c dipped his head in a Jaffa show of respect, and Mar'Tan mirrored the action.

"_Chevron seven locked."_

The Stargate engaged, the out rush of the vortex stunning the raptor within him. Mar'tan noted how Regina also jumped, though to her credit she only took a half step back. After one last hug Jacob stepped back from his daughter and stopped at Mar'Tan's side. After a shared look, the two of them stepped forwards and up to the waiting wormhole.

X-X-X-X-X-X

The five of them watched the mismatched figures step through the Stargate. Sam continued to look at it even after the wormhole disengaged.

"He'll be okay Carter." O'Neill told her quietly, knowing what was on her mind.

"I know..." She replied. "I just sometimes wish..." The rest she left unsaid.

"Yeah." O'Neill glanced back at the gate, then to the rest of the team. "So... O'Malley's?"

Daniel frowned. "What's the occasion?"

"Do we need one for steak?" O'Neill shot back, softening it with a smile. Sam couldn't help but smile along with him. "But now you ask... meet our newest team member." He said stepping to Regina's side. Three sets of wide eyes looked at him.

"You serious?" Carter asked.

"Yes I am." O'Neill answered.

Teal'c was the first to get over the surprise. "It will be an honour to fight besides you once more." He told Regina, bowing to her in a show of respect.

"Sweet. Carter, I'm sure you and Frasier can sort out something for her to wear. And while you're at it, bring her too."

"Colonel, I think she was planning on spending time with Cassie..."

O'Neill's smile didn't break. "Bring her too." He called over his shoulder as he headed for the locker rooms.

X-X-X-X-X-X

Nine days later, SG1 were about to embark on their first mission as a five man team. O'Neill glanced up from his P90 as Regina walked into the Gate Room. Like them she was dressed in green BDU's with a tac vest over the top. Her head was bare, allowing her red hair to shine in the overhead lights. A heavily modified SAW was in her hands, a strap running over her body. With her past life and training, Hammond and O'Neill had decided that she would be their 'weapons specialist', proficient in any firearm they might take or could find. Doc Fraiser was pressing even harder now to be assigned to the team herself, and to be honest O'Neill wasn't opposed to the idea. She had handled herself well during their trip to South America, and it was not as if the SGC was lacking in qualified doctors now that could stand in while she was off-world…

"Got everything?" He asked good-naturedly, a small smile twisting his mouth..

Regina smiled and started counting off with her fingers. "Think so. Beretta, Zat, MP5's, rocket launcher, SAW, fragmentation and Goa'uld shock grenades, C-4..."

"Ah ah ah!" O'Neill waved her off, while Carter shared a smile with Regina. The two of them had become good friends over the last week, and she'd taken to Cassie almost as quickly. Cassie had found her a little aloft at first, but had quickly warmed to her.

The wormhole engaged, and for a couple of second they all looked up at the glowing pool.

"Let's go." O'Neill commanded, and the five of them trooped up the ramp. Regina hesitated at the threshold, and the rest of SG1 paused with her, giving her a moment. But before O'Neill could even think to push her through Regina hardened her eyes and stepped forwards.

Jack shared a smile with Carter. Their new teammate was going to work out just fine.

X-X-X-X-X-X

Paula watched the vortex of the Time Gate with her heart in her throat. Her papa had been right behind her, so where was he?

Another figure tumbled through just as the vortex began to shrink. Rick's lean form rolled across the floor before he stood up slowly.

The portal was half it's size when Dylan came diving through, landing hard on his stomach. Behind him the Time Gate shrunk and vanished.

"Papa!" Paula ran over to him and helped him up, hugging him tightly. But then she noticed something; one of them was missing.

"Where's Regina?" Gail asked coldly. Dylan glared back at him.

"She stayed behind."

They barely had a chance to take in their loss when one of the guards that ha surrounded them, almost totally ignored till now, stepped forwards. "Sirs, Ma'am, the Colonel wishes to see you."

Rick and Gail exchanged a surprised look. In the four years that SORT had been in operation, no body from the front lines had _ever_ seen the Colonel. Orders were passed down via the internal network without any face to face contact.

Handing in their weapons, the four of them followed the guard through the complex until they reached the Commanders office. The clunk of a disengaging lock sounded as the door opened a fraction, and the four of them stepped through.

A large redwood desk separated them from the Commander's chair, which was turned away from them, facing the windows that looked out over southern Colorado. A flat screen computer sat just below the window, with framed pictures either side.

As they stood waiting, Rick glanced at the pictures... then looked again. There was the one which appeared to have a half dozen people in it, one of which had vibrant red hair...

The chair suddenly shifted, turning. Rick switched his attention to the chair... just as the Colonel's head came into view.

As one four jaws fell.

From the chair a nearly ten year's older Regina smiled lightly at them. Sliver Colonel rank tabs gleamed from the lapels of the slate grey BDU she wore, from under which a high collared black top emerged, covering almost her whole neck. A small scar marred her right temple, vanishing into her hair, which was still a vibrant red though worn several inches longer than she had in the past. A silver streak picked up the line of her scar, fading out as it climbed her crown. "At ease, and sit down. I expect you have a wild tale to tell..."

The End

* * *

I'd never thought I'd get here. But we have, and it's thanks to all of you who reviewed time and again.


End file.
